By Muhammad Sohail
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Regional Development, this week officially announced a competition to create a unified visual style (JVS) for central state authorities. This initiative aims to strengthen the public’s trust in the communication of state institutions, bring significant savings and improve the presentation of the Czech Republic at the domestic and international level.
” The state should present itself to citizens and its partners in a transparent and comprehensible manner. The unified visual identity of the state administration together with the established state domain gov.cz will help this effort, ” said Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
” Within the Czech Republic, the new visual style will strengthen the uniformity and recognizability of state institutions and bring greater clarity to citizens when navigating communication. In addition, similar to the case of Canada, which saved millions of dollars a year in administrative costs by adopting a uniform design, the Czech Republic also expects long-term savings exceeding 100 million crowns, “said Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský about the uniform visual style.
A uniform visual style for public administration is the standard in many developed countries. Finland came up with a visual identity that was easily applicable to both printed and digital materials, which increased accessibility and helped citizens better navigate the government. The Danish uniform visual style is an example of how clearly defined graphic elements and logos of state institutions contribute to greater comprehensibility and accessibility for citizens. Likewise, Sweden has implemented a coherent design for government bodies, allowing consistent identification of official documents, web portals and official communications.
” The Ministry of Industry and Trade supports exports, annually organizes hundreds of events abroad, dozens of business missions and fairs, and also creates an image of the Czech Republic as an attractive country for investors. Externally, however, central state administration bodies often act inconsistently, when members of the Czech delegation hand over business cards and other materials playing with all colors, ” says Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček.
The introduction of JVS is also an economic measure that will reduce the expenditure of state institutions on graphic materials. The current practice, where each ministry and institution uses its own logo and visual style, generates costs associated with regular updating of these materials. JVS will eliminate the need to create new designs for individual bodies, which will have a positive impact on the efficiency of the state budget. With this step, the Czech Republic follows the example of the Netherlands, where the unification of the visual style led to significant savings and greater efficiency in the management of public budgets.
The competition is designed as open and single-round, which ensures a level playing field for all participants. An expert panel of independent graphic design experts will evaluate anonymous submissions based on quality and innovation. Applications can be submitted during the next three months. The competition thus offers a unique opportunity for Czech graphic studios to become part of an important project with a national reach.
