Aneta Macolová studied journalism at Palacký University in Olomouc. She enjoys writing, visual culture and everything related to it. Currently, she is a communications manager at Czechdesign, an organization that has been paving the way for Czech design for almost twenty years. The multifaceted organization is devoted to professional consultations, organizes design and architecture competitions, runs a successful e-shop and a brick-and-mortar store with Czech design and, last but not least, acts as an online medium providing comprehensive information mainly from the field of design and architecture. How to communicate all this? Just believe in design. And black coffee.
What impulses motivated you to pursue writing and visual culture in particular?
I've always loved to write, paint, and observe beautiful things, even though paradoxically no one in my family or neighborhood was involved in this field. Perhaps it was through the television screen that I was motivated by the ever-ambitious Rory Gilmore. I took art classes from a young age, graduated with a degree in art history, and studied journalism in college, where I pursued a career in journalistic photography. We were taught visual culture by Dr. Foret, whose lectures and seminars were the biggest driving force and motivation for me to stay with the field and pursue it fully, with the vision of combining these two favorite disciplines - writing and visual - in my professional life. In my free time, I attended Barbara Kundračíková's excellent seminars and lectures at the Department of Art History. Her energy and the passion with which she talked about the issues and her world view are indescribable. I could listen to her for hours. My current impetus and motivation is my work and all the projects the people I surround myself with are working on. It's exactly how I dreamed it would be.
You are currently working for the Czechdesign organization. What makes it so important for the Czech environment?
Czechdesign has been making design functional, accessible and respected for two decades. It is a professional and diversified organisation. It may be harder for some to understand what it actually does, because each part of it is focused on something a little different. Czechdesign is a project team, a magazine and a design shop. However, all three parts are united by a common vision, which is great Czech design in every city, business and home. In our shop in the centre of Prague and on our e-shop we help designers sell their work. In our online magazine we search for progressive design, architecture, high fashion, beautiful places and taboo topics. We also have our own podcast. As part of the design team, we offer assistance to companies and institutions interested in design, and we organize design and architecture competitions, workshops and seminars. You may see the results of these projects every day, but you may not even know it. Functional design is not visible. Do you remember, for example, the visual identity of the National Gallery, the Olomouc Museum of Art, the logo of People in Need or the newly emerging Prague wayfinding Legible Prague? These are exactly the projects we stand behind as a competition organiser. And we are also celebrating 20 years this year. For this anniversary, we've gifted ourselves another big project, namely the design of services in hospitals. We are really looking forward to it, because we believe that quality design and orientation system in hospitals is needed in the Czech Republic.
What does the job of marketing and public relations manager entail?
Communicating all of the above, and that is a big challenge at times. I'm in charge of all of Czechdesign's communications, where I try to communicate content focused on all parts in a balanced way. Each has a slightly different goal and audience, so communication needs to be separated in time, text and visuals. The magazine content, as well as the shop's product posts, are aimed at the general public and are produced on a daily basis. We try to be as up-to-date as possible and react to current events, so one must be constantly on the lookout. Open calls and the results of design and architecture competitions are of course also aimed at getting as much exposure as possible, but they are usually only of interest to a small group of people. This also involves the production of press releases and subsequent distribution to the professional public. The dominant communication channels for us are social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube), our website, related media and newsletters. In the shop, I occasionally focus on outdoor advertising and, in collaboration with another colleague, very intensively on online marketing. I create textual content for everything, but I am also at the birth of the visual and image content in the shop. Every day is different and the workload is very dynamic. With the development of social media comes new requirements, formats, trends and ideas. I really wish my day had more than 24 hours.
Do you also work with international designers and companies?
It depends on which part of the organization we are in. In the shop all products are from Czech production and it is also one of the entry conditions. The agenda of the magazine is also foreign design and architecture, but primarily we like to support domestic work. As far as the project team is concerned, some of our competitions are international, so here we cooperate with foreign authorities and designers. For twelve years we have held the international Model Young Package competition. The biggest design competition in the Czech Republic to date for the new Prague wayfinding was also international. The jury was chaired by Mike Rawlinson, co-creator of navigation systems for world capitals.
Why is it important to support high quality domestic work?
Homemaking can mean anything and it doesn't necessarily have to be about design, but it's actually quite related. Whether we're talking about bread from a craft bakery or a vase from Pelclo, we always know that their producers are about quality and not quantity. I like knowing where things or products come from, knowing their real story and therefore their value. But I guess it's about everyone's preferences. Just as I like to buy a designer piece of clothing, jewelry, china or glassware from time to time because I like beautiful things with a story, or artisan bread from an artisan bakery and coffee from a local roaster, I know that there is only one Coca-Cola and any domestic attempt at a substitute will not satisfy me. But why I think we need to support local creations is the fact that the Czech Republic is full of talented people and brands whose products and products deserve our full attention and support.
You did an internship for the organisation Má Vlast Edit, which also aims to celebrate local design. In October 2022, this event took place for the first time outside of Prague, at the Olomouc Telegraph. Were you somehow drawn into this event?
I did one of my internships at Má Vlast Edit and it gave me an awful lot. I met inspiring people in the industry and at one time I was in charge of creating and querying the copy that went out on the site as a senior editor. It was the first time I could combine writing and visual culture. However, I was not involved in the Olomouc pop-up other than as a visitor and supporter of the event, and I'm a big fan of the girls and look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
