New logo of the Ministry of Culture will be created at VŠUP

Prague - The Ministry of Culture is preparing its new logo. It wants to present it at the beginning of next year along with new websites. The ministry is still unsure how much the new logo and its implementation will cost. However, the High School of Art and Design (VŠUP) will receive the funds, as the ministry has called on it to create the new logo.
    The question of finances is not yet closed, according to Daniel Herman from the ministry's press department. "More precise information will be known after completing all necessary steps, probably by the end of this year," he told ČTK.
    The ministry currently uses a logo that was created last year during the term of Minister Vítězslav Jandák. It was prepared by the advertising agency Publicis. The logo features a grey-red two-tailed lion, which is one of the elements of the Czech state coat of arms.
    In response to the question of why a new logo is being created, the press department only provided a vague statement. "With a quality logo, we want to express not only the content of the Ministry of Culture but also professionalism and solidity. The graphic manual being created will be binding for all ministry employees, ensuring a stylistic unity of all printed materials and other visual documents through which the ministry presents itself both externally and internally," stated Herman.
    Unlike the previous logo, for which the office called on a professional agency, the current minister Václav Jehlička approached VŠUP, specifically the Studio of Graphic Design and Visual Communication of Rostislav Vaněk. "The intention was to give students preference over a graphic company," said Herman.
    The logo featuring the lion cub did not evoke much response from the expert public. "The current logo of the Ministry of Culture is not of high quality, and it is good that it will change," said Aleš Najbrt, one of the most famous contemporary Czech graphic designers, who is currently involved in selecting the logo for the Czech presidency of the EU in 2009.
    "However, if the new logo is created by students, I consider it a mistake. Students should study, and tasks such as creating a logo or visual style for a state institution should be done by professionals. Medical students do not perform surgeries, and architecture students do not build houses," he added.
    VŠUP has likely become popular among Czech state cultural institutions, as the author of the new logo for the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) also comes from the same studio that the minister called upon. There are six studios in the graphic department of VŠUP.
    The institute initially turned to design studios for the logo assignment, but was not satisfied with the proposals, as they did not capture all the functions it performs. For the manual, including copyright, NPÚ paid 150,000 crowns excluding VAT; according to its staff, the ministry’s logo will be more expensive.
    It is only possible to estimate how much the ministry will pay for the new logo. The agency Publicis does not disclose figures about what the client paid, and the numbers cannot be extracted from the ministry's annual report either. According to an employee of another large advertising agency, however, it is impossible to say even approximately how much a similarly large institution can generally spend on the creation of a logo and its subsequent implementation. "The assignment and creation of a logo can cost 10,000 crowns or even ten million. Any amount is justifiable - perhaps by originality, the reputation of the author, the need for representation ...," he stated.
    The author of the aforementioned logo for the Czech presidency is set to receive a reward of 50,000 crowns and a contract for the development of a manual for the unified visual style. The reward for the winner of the logo for Prague Olympic was 200,000 crowns including the purchase of copyright.
    Today, even regions, cities, and city districts have their own logos. The Liberec regional office had a proposal for a unified visual style for the region developed for 300,000 crowns, which includes a new logo. In September, the Olomouc city hall announced a competition for a logo. The winner of the competition will take home 50,000 crowns and a contract for the creation of a logo worth 300,000 crowns.
    The change of logo in the sixth district of Prague cost half a million crowns, while the complete transformation of all materials required several hundred thousand more.