About the presidency
Visual presentation
“Slovakia is a young and dynamic country and home to highly-skilled and creative people. The logo of our Presidency attests to this.”
Miroslav Lajčák, Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
The Slovak Presidency logo incorporates specific Slovak elements – diacritical marks and the colours of the Slovak tricolour. It is a playful take on Slovakia as a young and dynamic country.
The logo incorporates a variety of graphical symbols that can be put together in a number of shapes – known in electronic communication as emoticons and smileys – that capture distinct moods, attitudes or emotions.
The logo was created by Jakub Dušička, a 23-year-old designer and a student at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (VŠVU) in Bratislava.
His logo design was chosen in an open competition that attracted over 200 entries from experts and amateurs alike. In addition to representatives of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the panel that selected the winning design included three external experts in design and advertising: the Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, professor and academic painter Stanislav Stankoci; marketing expert and President of the Slovak Advertising Agencies Association Róbert Slovák; and the Head of VŠVU’s Visual Communication Department, graphic artist Pavel Choma.
In keeping with tradition, the logo appears on many documents, promotional materials and brochures. It is also used for the Presidency’s official communication channels and at all Presidency events in Slovakia and abroad, as well as at events receiving financial or non-financial support from the Presidency.
About the Logo’s Designer:
Graphic artist Jakub Dušička was born in Trenčín on 12 June 1992. He is a student at the Visual Communication Department of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. In 2014, he completed a six-month internship at École Estienne, Paris. Alongside his studies, he works as a graphic designer and is among those launching Slovakia’s first brewery run by university students.
Visual presentation in the Justus Lipsius
The visual presentation in the Justus Lipsius building, the headquarters of the Council of the EU in Brussels, is central to the presentation of any country holding the Presidency. It is targeted primarily at experts and officials who attend working party meetings in the building, rather than at the general public.
The visual presentation of the Slovak Presidency is the result of an open competition. The winning project – The Four Elements of Innovation – is the work of the Slovak Association of Interior Designers (SAID).
The presentation rests on four pillars, or elements, of innovation:
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Earth: green – ecocapsule by Nice Architects;
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Water: blue – Vajda kayaks and canoes by the Vajda Group;
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Fire: red – plasma drilling technology by GA Drilling;
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Air: yellow – AeroMobil by a team led by Juraj Vaculík and Štefan Klein.
They are all unique technologies or inventions by Slovaks.
The Ecocapsule is a low-energy dwelling with running hot water, a shower and toilet; it may be used as a double hotel room anywhere in the world.
Kayakers and canoeists paddling kayaks and canoes based on technology from the Vajda Group have won 17 Olympic medals and dozens more at World and European Championships. The company supplies racing boats to athletes from 21 countries, ranging from Australia to the United States.
The ground-breaking plasma drilling technology developed by GA Drilling results in substantial time and cost savings in the extraction industry (oil and gas) and other energy sectors.
The centrepiece of the presentation is the AeroMobil flying car developed by a team led by Juraj Vaculík and Štefan Klein. Their roadable aircraft combines the benefits of a passenger car with those of a small aircraft. The enterprise expects to receive its first pre-orders next year, having attracted the interest of potential customers from across the world.
The main space designated for visual presentation – the Justus Lipsius atrium – features four walls in the shape of an ‘L’, which represent the four elements. Each wall displays one of the innovations and its respective creator. In addition, a fully operational AeroMobil prototype is on show in the atrium in July 2016.
The building’s foyer and 50th floor is home to additional installations and exhibitions.
Video making-of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFiZrM1gZ-w
