Winners of the Slovak Design Award 2024 Announced: Record-Breaking Edition Recognizes Outstanding Works in Communication Design
On Monday, 11 November 2024, the 21st edition of the Slovak Design Award ceremony took place at the Nová scéna Theatre in Bratislava, this year was dedicated to communication design. The opening speech highlighted several important facts about the edition, which entered the history of the competition as the most successful and largest one to date. A total of 555 works were submitted — the highest number in the entire history of the NCD.
“Communication design consists of two words and seventeen letters, carrying a powerful message and a diverse range of outputs that once again dominated both surface and space in this year’s NCD. With the NCD24 exhibition, we symbolically bid farewell to the attic space of the Hurbanove kasárne, which hosted the long-term exhibition of Slovak design for six years. Communication itself helps ensure that consolidation does not turn into the devastation of design in Slovakia. The quality and quantity of the exhibited projects, as well as the attendance of the exhibition, clearly prove that Slovak design is alive, attractive, and internationally relevant. For 31 years, the award ceremony has celebrated the very best of our design. And wherever there is something worth celebrating, there must also be support. Believe me, it is worth it. Congratulations to all award recipients!” said Maroš Schmidt, Director of the Slovak Design Center.
The submitted works were evaluated in 11 categories through a two-round voting process by an international jury. A total of 155 projects advanced to the second round, 139 of which were exhibited. During the gala evening, 37 nominations were presented, while 10 main awards, 3 special awards, and 3 awards for design personalities were granted. No award was presented this year in the Design in Motion category. The evaluation process took place during the summer under the supervision of a seven-member international jury consisting of Juraj Blaško (SK), Zuzana Husárová (SK), Róbert Slovák (SK), Vasyl Kosiv (UA), Filip Blažek (CZ), Justyna Kucharczyk (PL), and Eduardo Barrera Arambarri (MX). Juraj Blaško also served as this year’s curator and jury chair.
During the gala evening, the winners received a unique award created by Mário Coufal, a graduate of Experimental Design at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, together with graphic designers Terézia Baláž Denkova and Barbara Kowalczuková, who also designed the complete visual identity of NCD 2024. Conceptually, the award was based on the creative process itself and inspired by traditional tools such as dies, matrices, and printing blocks. Its form reflected process and transformation, emphasizing a metallic appearance evoking the crystalline forms of metals found in nature. The trophies were produced using a combination of FDM 3D printing and resin SLA printing, with carefully considered surface finishing. The material used was PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol), one of the most commonly used materials in 3D printing. The award was also developed in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, a partner of the Slovak Design Award.
The gala evening was hosted by Barbara Jagušák, dressed in a model designed by Dominika Kozáková, who recently received the Sustainable Fashion Talent Award within Best Fashion Talent for her innovative approach to upcycling and the use of deadstock materials. Her work demonstrates that ecological fashion can be both creative and globally relevant. The Slovak Fashion Council, organizer of Best Fashion Talent, is also a long-term partner of the Slovak Design Award.
Slovak Design Award 2024 once again confirmed its role in supporting and recognizing creativity and innovation in Slovak design.
“This year’s 21st edition of the Slovak Design Award dedicated to communication design brought not only exceptional works but also an important message about the significance of visual communication in today’s dynamic world. I am delighted to see Slovak designers continually pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation — whether experienced professionals or emerging talents gaining recognition. I am proud that this competition supports excellence and highlights the importance of art for our society,” said Anna Macaláková, Director of J&T BANKA in Slovakia.
SLOVAK DESIGN AWARD 2024 – COMMUNICATION DESIGN
MAIN AWARDS IN INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES
New Horizons
Anna Ulahelová (co-author – Branislav Matis)
Living Questionnaire
Packaging and Object
Marcel Benčík
Wine Product Line and Wine Labels for JURAN from Modra
Student Design
Filip Birkner in collaboration with Jisung Park, supervised by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville
RETROSPECTA 45
Typeface
Simona Császárová, Michal Tornyai
QOD Typeface for Vehicle Registration Plates
Space
Branislav Matis, Pavlína Morháčová, Beáta Paňáková (co-author – Ondrej Jób)
SNG Information System Project & Process
Campaign
Matúš Buranovský, Daniel Šmíra
DAAD — Architecture and Design Days 2023
Digital
Filip Ruisl, Lukáš Štepanovský (co-authors – Katarína Vass, Igor Rjabinin, František Michal Sebestyén, Rastislav Chynoranský, Marián Horkovič, Romana Halgošová, Branislav Matis, LAB SNG)
Atlas SNG
Identity
Wiktor Leo Burnett, Ján Zachar
Corporate Identity for the Palma Development Project
Poster and Visual
Matúš Hnát
BRaK 9: Not Afraid Not to Grow
Books and Publications
Palo Bálik, Daniela Olejníková (illustrations), published by Baobab
MYKO
SPECIAL AWARDS
Public Choice Award
The Public Choice Award within the Slovak Design Award is a special recognition allowing the general public to participate in selecting the best works of Slovak design. For the first time, the public was able to vote anonymously for their favourite nominated project on the Slovak Design Center website between 16 October and 6 November. Out of a total of 2,064 votes, the project FUTURE (newspaper) by Veronika Kurcinová and Adam Zakucia received the highest number of votes and became the winner with 408 votes. The winner receives a valuable media package from media partner Startitup to help increase the visibility of the project.
The project was a collaboration between two design students and the Faculty of Arts at the Technical University of Košice on the editorial design of the authorial newspaper FUTURE 25. The newspaper was created from the students’ perspective and without censorship. Its main focus was the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Arts, but its aim was not only to present formal information. It also provided space for students’ voices, featuring photographs of interiors characterizing everyday life at the faculty, as well as interviews with students, alumni, and teachers about their experiences and the evolution of the school community. The newspaper was printed on natural reed paper, giving it the appearance of drawing paper frequently used by students during the design process.
Special Award of Print Partner DIW print
Peter Hajdin, Peter Simonik, Andrej Maruška and Komplot for the campaign (I Don’t) Want to Stay Here
A mobilization campaign before the 2023 parliamentary elections aimed at encouraging young people to vote. Young people repeatedly refrain from participating in elections due to apathy and negative attitudes toward the political and social situation in Slovakia, often seeing emigration as the best solution. The campaign transformed the negative slogan “I Don’t Want to Stay Here” into the positive headline “I Want to Stay Here,” placing responsibility for the country’s future into the hands of young voters. The nationwide campaign involved well-known personalities and influencers across social media, websites, partner platforms, outdoor advertising, festivals, and events.
“We selected this project for its exceptionally strong and recognizable visual identity. It is very simple, and precisely because of that, it fulfilled the campaign’s purpose perfectly,” said Lukáš Písecký.
Special Award of the Slovak Design Center as a Partner of the New European Bauhaus Initiative in Slovakia
Katarína Plačková for the project Reconnected, diploma thesis supervised by Marcel Benčík at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Department of Visual Communication.
The Slovak Design Center has been an official partner of the New European Bauhaus initiative since 2021. The initiative encourages society to move toward an ecologically and socially sustainable, inclusive, and culturally oriented future. Under the patronage of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, it connects the ideas of the European Green Deal with everyday life and creates a platform for cooperation in architecture, construction, and design. Today, NEB brings together more than 750 partners worldwide, including the Slovak Design Center.
The project Reconnected combines the values of sustainability, beauty, and collaboration by using biodegradable materials from renewable resources — created from bacteria, waste, and plants — together with natural pigments, connecting ecology, science, and design to achieve positive social impact.
DESIGN PERSONALITY AWARDS
Emerging Talent
Simona Császárová
Simona Császárová recently graduated from the Department of Visual Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and previously studied promotional art at the School of Applied Arts in Košice. She completed study stays in Poland and at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. Her diploma thesis explored the history, use, and significance of initials in typography and graphic design and resulted in a publication titled Initial Initiative Initialization of Initials. During her studies, she worked on numerous design projects, including illustrations for the RTVS children’s programme What Are We Going to Do?, visual design for the SKUSY event, collaborations with the East Slovak Gallery in Košice, and the organization of the By Design Conference. Her most significant project is the redesign of Slovak vehicle registration plates, for which she developed the QOD typeface. She currently works as a graphic designer at the Slovak National Gallery and as a freelance designer.
Established Designer
Marcel Benčík
Marcel Benčík is a graphic designer, educator, and expert in communication design. He studied graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, where he later completed doctoral studies. He currently serves as Associate Professor and Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at the academy and founded the Space Studio within the Department of Visual Communication. Since 2002, his professional practice has focused on communication design in architecture and public space, exhibition design, book design, and visual identity systems. He collaborates with leading cultural institutions such as the Slovak National Gallery, the Slovak National Theatre, and the Považie Gallery of Art, as well as with prominent Slovak visual artists.
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Design
Presented in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic
Ján Meisner
Graphic designer and illustrator Ján Meisner (1939) studied promotional graphics at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague between 1960 and 1967. After graduation, he settled in Bratislava and worked as a freelance artist. He focused primarily on book design and illustration for children and adults and collaborated with several Slovak publishing houses including Tatran, Smena, Slovenský spisovateľ, Mladé letá, and Obzor. He also designed film posters, posters for cultural events, and record covers for the music label Opus. He is the author of numerous logos, visual identities, and information systems. In 1990, he led the election campaign of the political movement Public Against Violence and founded the graphic studio Tryo. Since 1996, he has lived in Zlín, where he taught at today’s Faculty of Multimedia Communications at Tomas Bata University and became its co-founder and first dean. Today, he continues to live in Zlín and devotes himself to personal artistic projects.
The awarded works, together with other selected projects, can be seen at the Slovak Design Award 2024 exhibition. The exhibition runs from 17 October to 15 December 2024 in the attic of the Hurbanove kasárne at Kollárovo Square 10 in Bratislava. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 13:00 to 18:00, with free admission.
Competition Organizers
- Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic
- Slovak Design Center
SCD Partners
- General Advertising Partner: J&T BANKA
- Main Partner: Antalis
- Exclusive Media Partner: Designum
- Main Media Partner: STARTITUP
- Media Partner: Citylife.sk
NCD24 Partners
- Main Partner: New Scene Theatre
- Media Partner: MEDIA/ST
- Print Partner: DIW print
- Product Partner: Budiš
- Partner: Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava
- Exhibition Partner: BADW
With support from: Slovak Fashion Council
Media Support of NCD
Aktuality.sk — Archinfo — Čerstvé ovocie — Denník N — DeTePe — Dobré noviny — Interez — Protisedi.cz — Rádio FM — Refresher