The exhibition stand at this year’s Czech Design Week presents a newly established collaboration between graphic designer Michaela Zdeňková and product designer Marek Kounovský. Together, they introduce a series of porcelain objects and functional products that bring together two distinct yet complementary approaches to design. Marek Kounovský is a product designer with extensive experience working with glass and porcelain. At last year’s Czech Design Week at the Mánes Gallery, he presented his Cannolli collection. Michaela Zdeňková is a graphic designer with a wealth of experience and numerous completed projects. Her notable work includes the graphic design for the Helena Vondráčková exhibition and the visual identity for the Out of the Blue exhibition, presented at the Czech Centre in Paris during Paris Design Week / Maison&Objet. Their joint collection for this year’s event includes vases, mugs, and plates, created as a dialogue between form and visual communication. Marek Kounovský designs the forms of the objects themselves, while Michaela Zdeňková applies a graphic layer in the form of patterns, prints, and the collection’s overall visual identity. The result is a balanced body of work that transcends the boundaries of individual disciplines. Here, graphic and product design are not separate layers, but equal components of a single whole that defines the final appearance of the objects. The entire presentation is a fully independent project. The designers chose to approach the exhibition as a comprehensive work realized entirely in-house—from the initial concept and product design to the graphic layout, installation, and final presentation. The exhibition thus offers a cohesive view of their collaborative work and the long-term dialogue between their two disciplines.
