Mirko Ilić was born in Bosnia. In Europe, he drew comics, illustrations, and art-directed posters, books, and record covers. In the US, he was the art director of Time Magazine International Edition and the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times. In 1995, he founded his graphic design studio Mirko Ilić Corp, specializing in editorial, identities, and hospitality design. His work is in collections of many institutions and museums, such as The Smithsonian Institution, MoMA, and SFMOMA.
Mirko is the co-author of several books with Steve Heller, including Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design, Handwritten, The Anatomy of Design, Stop Think Go Do, Lettering Large, Presenting Shakespeare, and Head to Toe: The Nude in Graphic Design. With Milton Glaser he co-wrote The Design of Dissent. He teaches MFA Illustration at the School of Visual Arts.