Exactly 400 works from 34 countries were submitted in this year’s 16th Plaktivat, held by the TAM-TAM Institute in collaboration with the Friends of Youth Association Slovenia and TOM Telephone. Entries came ranging from Paraguay, the United States, and Canada to Vietnam, Japan, and New Zealand. The majority of entries, 34%, came from domestic creatives, who triumphed in both categories. The winning poster titled IT’S ALL COOL was created by Matej Ferlič and Juš Šoltes. In the Fresh Blood category, the jury declared two winning works: CHOOSING HELP IS NOT SHAME by Urban Šelj and TSUNAMI DISTRESS created by Nuša Mihalič.

The purpose of this year’s socially responsible poster contest was to positively encourage young people to speak about their distress. The high number of entries and the diverse panorama of received works, reflecting a wide spectrum of understanding the issue and stylistic diversity, demonstrate that every distress is a story of its own.

“The works were warm, icy, terrifying, beautiful, intricate, refined, sometimes all at once. But every submitted Plaktivat is, in fact, a success in itself – more than 300 individuals devoted their time to understanding the perhaps little-known distresses of young people. This experience and the acquired knowledge about the seriousness of the topic will accompany them in the future and may contribute a bit to the creation of an active and empathetic society that can look beyond the frames, in various ways,” described Peter Zabret, from Pristop agency and the president of the Plaktivat jury.

The jury also included Julija Somrak (DROM agency), David Fartek (ArnoldVuga), Nina Vrhovec (Multipraktik studio), Špela Drašlar (Saatchi&Saatchi), Anja Delbello (design studio AA), and Tomaž Drozg from TAM-TAM.

After hours of deliberation at Cukrarna, they selected 15 FINALISTS, 3 SUPERFINALISTS, and the WINNING WORK titled IT’S ALL COOL.

The authors behind the latter are Matej Ferlič and Juš Šoltes, who convinced the jury with an almost factual and unembellished representation of a specific situation: “Sometimes, that alone is enough to effectively and without detours draw attention to the topic, stop the steps of hard-to-reach young people, and initiate a debate in the broader society. Although the images drive this dialogue, the winning work gives the main role to the words themselves, which guide us through an unvarnished reality. For mental health, it is crucial that even the unspoken uncomfortable thoughts find their place; the good news is that everyone can find their way to express them – even through TOM Telephone – and share them with someone. We could say that although the winning Plaktivat seems like a monologue, its purpose is to trigger conversation(s) with its echo,” Zabret stated in the justification.

SUPERFINALISTS

FINALISTS

FRESH BLOOD WITH TWO WINNERS FOR THE FIRST TIME

In the Fresh Blood category, dedicated to students, the works were evaluated by a committee of internationally recognized designers and creators, including Tomato Košir, a designer and president of the Fresh Blood jury, Sara Sešlar Naraks (DROM agency), visual artist Lucija Rosc, Gašper Uršič (Studio Kruh), and Mina Fina (Grupa Ee).

“We are pleased in the jury that the final selection among the finalists gave us such a hard time, as evidenced by the introduction of special jury commendations for superfinalists, and the desire to award and execute the works of two authors for the first time,” summarized Košir.

The authors signing the winning works are Urban Šelj for the poster CHOOSING HELP IS NOT A SHAME and Nuša Mihalič for the poster TSUNAMI DISTRESS.

From the jury’s justification, it is evident that Šelj, with the communicative power of the illustration, proved that he understands the typical structure of distress, while also using contrasting colors to show he understands the nature of the poster medium, where the speed of addressing the observer is the most significant comparative advantage. The poster TSUNAMI DISTRESS is distinguished, according to the jury, by very appropriate communication: “In harmony, there is an illustration expressing empathy for the target group and a slogan providing constructive advice. Both are measured with the appropriate tone of communication, both verbally, visually, and typographically.” Besides the two winning works, the jury also announced 3 SUPERFINALISTS and 12 FINALISTS.

SUPERFINALISTS

FINALISTS

This year’s competition also featured the first Plaktivat workshop for students, aimed at empowering young people to create socially responsible posters. Therefore, it is not surprising that Tomato Košir also provided advice that will help young people in their future applications to Plaktivat: “In general, we whisper to students and future students a wish for less dealing with form for the sake of form and provocation for the sake of provocation itself. We recommend more checking of understanding the message, more dealing with the appropriateness of the idea, and more full-fledged planning work for effective encoding into the visual language for such a specific medium as an outdoor poster.”

EXHIBITION OF SELECTED WORKS OF THE 16TH PLAKTIVAT

The selected posters from the 16th international Plaktivat competition will be exhibited in Ljubljana at two locations: in the TAM-TAM Poster Gallery Figovec and the BTC Poster Gallery.

The opening of the exhibition will take place on Friday, January 12, at 4:00 PM in the Figovec Poster Gallery. The event will be marked by socializing with designers and the awarding of plaques to the winners.

 

Category PLAKTIVAT

Winner: VSE JE KUL – Matej Ferlič, Juš Šoltes

Superfinalists: Pogovor osvetljuje, Pogovor obvaruje – DISISDIS / Eva Batič in Tea Goljevšček, Izbrati pomoč ni sramota – Urban Šelj, Pokliči raje Toma – DROM Agency / Lučka Fabijan, Tjaša R. Grča

Finalists: Tudi skrita čustva štejejo – Lea Dujmovič, ZASVETI – Vita Brovč, DUHovit poster – Internavti / Andraž Čelik, Nejc Romih, Darja Petrič, The Game – Michał Stachacz, Podpirajte, ne sodite – Polina Shkolnikova, Spregovori / Zidovi –Damir Mazinjanin, Drago Mlakar, Pravi uporniki – Sara Grmek, Andraž Grulja, Mental monsters – Katya Murashkina, Kar joči, Peter – Gašper Potočnik, Ivana Katarina Milinković, Včasih je treba brati med vrsticami – Nac Kaker, Žiga Kuhel, STOL – Łukasz Zwolan, Razbij tišino – Maja Burja, Miha Avsenik, Pot iz labirinta – prepoznati stiske – Markacija /  Blaž Rosa, LOL_SOS – Internavti / Boris Kralj, Nemi plakat – Besedni studio Imenovalnik / Žan Rus F.

Category SVEŽA KRI

Winners: Izbrati pomoč ni sramota – Urban Šelj in Cunami stiska – Nuša Mihalič

Superfinalists: Sam – Ana Govc, Lenart Merlin, Adolescents’ distress – Mohammad Nasr, Young man’s sorrow – HuangFanghong, Adolescents’ distress – Goyen Chen

Finalists: Tudi skrita čustva štejejo – Lea Dujmovič, Skrivnostno ni vedno varno – Lana Pavlič, Ni treba – Zala Doupona, HAPPY BIRTHDAY –  Kailin Miao, TikTak – Živa Juvančič, Forest of indifference – Levkov Maxim, Confused – SuJay, Kaj te muči? – Jasna Bahovec, Poišči pogum, spregovori – Ajda Breščak, Pogovor ti lahko pomaga iz teme – Dina Aleksovska, Andraž Pavlovčič, Najpogostejše stiske mladostnikov – Tina Černetič, Majhne besede, veliki rezultati – Nika Očko