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The National Prize for Design has been running every alternative year since 1993 and is organised jointly by the Slovak Design Centre and the Slovak Ministry of Culture, which funds the work of the Centre. It is considered to be the only platform focused on the development of design in Slovakia and, since its establishment, has been among the Centre’s key activities.

The seventh competition, held in 2005, saw a number of changes. Slovakia became a member of the EU in 2004 and the new challenges that this created led the Slovak Design Centre to adjust the concept of the competition to this new situation. Design enjoys a high reputation in the EU and without this position, activities such as the innovation of products and a driving force for building a competitive environment would not be possible. Design and innovation are key terms in the Lisbon Strategy and are expected to become key objectives for the Competitiveness Programme in Slovakia. The Slovak Design Centre firmly believes that the National Prize for Design will encourage the implementation of this strategy.

The revised concept resulted in new competition requirements, including the addition of a student prize to the two original categories of product design and communication design. The new student design categories expanded the scope of the competition, provided an overview of the level of current design education and, most importantly, opened a communication platform between manufacturers and young designers. International participants – designers cooperating with international manufacturers and international manufacturers working with Slovak designers – were allowed to enter for the first time.

The National Prize for Design incorporates a number of different awards: main prizes for the product design, communication design and student design categories, as well as ten ‘Honourable Mentions’. Two new awards were presented for the first time in 2005: the Special Prize of the Minister of Economy (awarded to a company implementing successful design strategy) and the Special Prize of the Minister of Culture (awarded to an individual for outstanding activities in design). The implementation of the new concepts has resulted in higher recognition for the competition, which is an excellent example of the ways in which design can integrate with different sectors (culture, education and economy).

The budget for this activity is approximately 28.000 euros, which covers the costs of the preparation and realisation of the competition, the international board of judges, the award ceremony, the catalogue and the exhibition. In 2005, a special budget of 1500 euros was made available to produce a documentary film about the products.

In 2005, there were 118 registered entries in total for the National Design Prize. Of these, 36 were in the product design category, 36 in the communication design category, 35 in the student product design category and 11 in the student communication design category. The majority of entries in the product design category were furniture/interior accessories (20 entries). Other entries included machines/technical equipment (7), clothes (4) and instruments/tools/home appliances (2). A similar pattern of entry occurred in the student product design category, with the majority of entries again being furniture/interior accessories (9). Other entries were instruments/tools/home appliances/misc (5) and machines/technical equipment (2).

In the communication design category, there were 13 promotional materials/catalogues entered, followed by logos/visual styles (11), periodicals/magazines (7) and annual reports (2). Students entered 6 logos/visual styles, 3 promotional materials/catalogues and 1 publication.

An international panel of judges, comprising experts from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, France and Austria, met to evaluate the entries in Bratislava, in September 2005. The winning entries were presented at the ‘Design in Slovakia 1990–2005’ exhibition, which was held in Bratislava in November 2005. All the winning entries are published in the National Prize for Design 2005 catalogue.

	The National Prize for Design 2005 Product Design Category: Adjustable overrun brake  Design: Milan Bíroš  Producer: KNOTT spol. s. r. o., Modra
	The National Prize for Design 2005 Communication Design Category: Bratislava –logo and visual style of the city  Design: Martin Žilinský  Client: Capital of the Slovak Republic Bratislava
	Prize awarded by the Minister of Education of SR Students´ Product Design Category: BODY DESIGN – a set of backpacks VIBEAU  Design: Andrea Krajcíková   School: Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava  Mentor: František Burian
	Prize awarded by the Minister of Education of SR Students´Communication Design Category: PETRŽALKA – photo report from the concrete jungle  Design: Martin Mistrík  School: Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava  Mentor: Pavel Choma

For further information about the National Design Prize in Slovakia please contact the Slovak Design Centre: sdc@sdc.sk


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