Research project High Quality Design in Visual Communications: Identification and implementation is a coproduction of Centre for creativity and Brumen Foundation within programme of Partner Network CzK 2020.

Fundamental problem addressed by the project is lack of established, credible or relevant arguments for additional value for high quality design of visual communications – the ones that could be well structured, easily accessed and fine-tuned for our context and available all in one spot. To confront this problem, we identified a set of clear and objective arguments for all those that have to justify the additional value of good design. Argument repository would be a publication; something like a manual used practically as a gadget, almost like the Pantone Swatch.

We as designers often face difficulty of justifying the importance of quality in design of visual media. Company employees that are aware of the value of good design, often have hard time convincing the higher management investing time and money in it. Decision-makers and representatives of institutions often perceive in narrow aspect (for instance economic) and most of the other features like social and environmental are set aside. For that reason, we want to focus on audiences that would be divided in three groups. First and primary group would be designers, design students and everyone involved in “Cultural and creative sector”. Second group would be clients and finally third would include the wider public.

Rather than calculating the fees, project would concentrate more on recognising of additional value that is brought by design services, that should result in raising the fees. At the moment, we are collecting available documents and researches dealing with value of design and also searching for good examples of praxis. Based on that data we would be able to develop good models, that would make lobbying for high quality design more frictionless – most of available research is based on foreign examples and hard to apply to local conditions. Publication could be used as reference for anyone interested in theoretical developments in design, as a survey of on-site conditions, as every profession needs theoretical back-up for developing in education and terminology and keeping the public conversation going.

Publication is planned to come out in spring of 2021 – following the print there will be also an online edition on websites of Brumen Foundation and czk.si.