Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

Čierne Diery (The Black Holes) are documenting and archiving ruined structures of historical importance. Raising awareness of these monuments already helped some of these places to be recovered to their intial glory or get repurposed. Members of the association are Martin Lipták, Andrej Sarvaš, Miroslav Beňák, Michal Tornyai, Lívia Gažová, Lukáš Patera.

These goals were achieved through graphic design that helped connecting people in order to fulfill the purpose of the project. As the medium they had chosen the Risograph printing because it could elevate the design to a new visually stunning perspectives. Nature of this type of printing technique is the uniqueness of every printout, combined with limited amount of shipment. It was a smart strategy because these graphics would be in a higher demand.

Group of authors collaborated with dozens of designers and illustrators from Slovakia. Good example is Ondrej Gavalda´s maps of industrial monuments that won NCD (National Design Award).

I think the first book was very interesting and inspiring as well. The title of the project is Čierne diery (The Black Holes) - Industrial monuments and forgotten places. The book does not have any page numbering to simulate the feeling that the team had when exploring the places. They had used locations of the monuments to help orient readers instead. The heavy font and the cover made of thick carton makes the book look heavy and important. It was printed without the black colour and authors used dark blue instead. That made the photography and graphics inside the book standing out.

I think the group of authors wanted to criticize Slovak society for abandoning these relics after they lost their intended functionality. But the main benefit of this project is certainly the raise of their sentimental value which helps spread the message about their historical significance to wide public. The people who bought the book or graphic actually bought a small piece of history.