Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

Sixth event from the series Critical Window organised by Open Design Network and Open Design Studio. This collaborative design performance was created in order to change mind of public and take part at presidential elections in Slovakia 2014. The participation in elections in Slovakia is always low, around 50%. We think that canvassing campaigns to promote political parties did't prove in the past much effectivity and the public is still not motivated to vote. 

There are not many subjects or non-governmental organisations that would talk to people and persuade them about the importance of participation. There is no serious pubic discourse about one of the main rights that democracy benefits from. Maybe it is because we have too many options, too many parties to choose from. Maybe it is simple because we like to hate political parties in general. Maybe we stopped believing in positive change and progress. Maybe we use our incompetency in decision making for a epecifically political subject as an excuse.

That is why we tried to express our skeptical point of view and used irony. Hypnosis is in current state of our social environment maybe only tool that can possibly help to change our minds and force us to participate.

Critical window is original format of short critical visual reflections made by graphic designers and projected onto the street from three windows of the culture and co-work space called Foajé on Štefánikova street in Bratislava. They used to reflect the current critical political or social issues that resonate in Slovakia. Sometimes they are related with the public events organised inside the Foaje showing the personal critical attitude of their authors towards certain topics of these events. Authors: Katarína Balážiková, Hana Hudáková, Veronika Melicherová