Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with by the Ministry of Industry and Trade a by the Ministry of Regional Development has officially announced Competition to create a single visual style (SVS) for central government bodies. This initiative aims to strengthen public confidence 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 transparently and clearly to citizens and its partners. The unified visual identity of the state administration together with the established state domain gov.cz will help this effort," said the Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
"The Ministry of Industry and Trade supports exports, organises hundreds of events abroad every year, dozens of business missions and trade fairs and also creates the image of the Czech Republic as an attractive country for investors. However, on the outside, central government bodies often act inconsistently, with members of the Czech delegation handing out business cards and other materials playing with all colours," says the Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček.
A uniform visual style for government is standard in many developed countries. Finland came up with a visual identity that was easy to apply to both printed and digital materials, which increased accessibility and helped citizens to better navigate the civil service. Denmark's unified visual style is an example where clearly defined graphic elements and logos of state institutions contribute to greater clarity and accessibility for citizens. Similarly, Sweden has introduced a coherent design for government bodies, allowing consistent identification of official documents, web portals and official communications.
"Within the Czech Republic, the new visual style will strengthen the uniformity and recognizability of state institutions and will bring greater clarity to citizens when orienting themselves in communication. In addition, similar to Canada, which has saved millions of dollars a year in administrative costs by adopting a uniform design, the Czech Republic expects long-term savings in excess of CZK 100 million," said the Foreign Minister on the unified visual style Jan Lipavsky.
The introduction of the JVS is also an economic measure that will reduce the cost of graphic materials for public institutions. The current practice of each ministry and institution using its own logo and visual style generates costs associated with regular updating of these materials. The JVS will eliminate the need to create new designs for individual institutions, 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 has led to significant savings and greater efficiency in the management of public budgets.
The competition is designed to be open and single round, ensuring a level playing field for all participants. A panel of independent graphic design experts will judge the anonymous entries on the basis of quality and innovation. Applications can be submitted over the next three months. The competition thus offers a unique opportunity for Czech graphic design studios to become part of a major project with a national reach.
The first documents were published on 30 October, the final versions were added today. The basic requirements of the contracting authority include:
* The symbol is to be based on the small state emblem (by heraldist Jiří Louda). This emblem is characterised by a white two-tailed lion in a leap with the St Wenceslas crown on a red field (shield). This characteristic distinguishes the lion from the lions depicted in the emblems of other countries and companies. The default red background of the lion on coats of arms from the 13th century onwards.
* The requirement is to create an original lion symbol that is modernised, timeless, dignified and at the same time clearly identifiable with the small state emblem described above. The symbol will be a new part of the JVS of the state administration and will thus unify all central and other state administration bodies and will thus be an easily recognizable element of the visual presentation of the Czech Republic in all areas of communication for citizens.
* The colour scheme of the resulting JVS of the state administration will be similar to the existing small state emblem, yet other designs are acceptable while respecting the use of national colours. The red base of the shield is the preferred variant of the commissioning authority on the recommendation of the expert guarantor of the design competition, Mr Ondřej Kafka, however, other colour variants other than the Czech lion can also be used. The Czech lion must remain white.
* To eliminate defects in the proposals, the contracting authority further states:
● 1) The lion must not be asleep, eyes should be open, tongue out, claws extended,
● 2) the lion should have ideal proportions: healthy, strong, muscular with a massive mane,
● 3) The lion logo should not be cut off (the Czech lion should be visible in its entirety),
● 4) the lion is supposed to be (from our point of view) left looking, leaping and roaring,
● 5) The lion must not lack a heraldic (St.Wenceslas) crown, ideally of golden colour,
● 6) the lion must be two-tailed.
gnews - RoZ
PHOTO - By Jiří Louda - Act 3/1993 Coll., www.lexdata.czGesetzt 3/1993 (staatl. Gesetzesblatt), www.lexdata.czLaw 3/1993 (state book of laws), www.lexdata.cz, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3670353
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