Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

One of the first things we notice while talking to a policeman is his unifrom. It speaks to the citizens of our country. Therefore design of the uniform is quite crucial for the perception of police in (not only) our country. Police uniform is a stereotype, psychological visual representation of the status, authority and power. Therefore, I was wondering how the people perceive the police through the unifroms as someone who represent their motto " Help and protect". I wanted to share my thoughts with a group of student of fashion design at our Academy of Fine Art and Design in Bratislava, motivate them and express my wish to include such topic in their fashion design classes plan.

I decided that I will do some research on police stations and among my friends designers. Young people were more creative and original, they experimented more and suggested more unconventional motives and elements. Adults and older respondents suggested more classic, formal and elegant styles. When I asked the policemen, they prefered sport and more functional style.
In general I was surprised by the interest of all groups of respondents. They convinced me they are not happy with how they look and how people look at them. They would rather see themselves as "modern and trendy" policemen.
The only thing they did not mind were the shoes. They apparently have good ones. The part of the clothes they disliked the most were the winter "russian looking" hats called "baranice".

The little research convinced me that there is definitely a strong interest in change. In countries where the police have a bad reputation - especially post-communis countries with a totalitarian past the uniforms should be redesigned. Uniform does not make a better cop, but it helps create the positive image among citizens, and helpt to build a healthy self-confidence of the policeman.

The project was created during the course Critic – Critical practice in Graphic Design at Department of Visual Communication at Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. The course foucuses on practicing and developing individual or collaborative critical projects.