Comics. We’ve all held one in our hands at some point. Yet despite a tradition spanning more than a century in Slovenia, comics were long regarded as a second-rate literary form – entertainment for children, not serious culture. When the Ministry of Culture invited us to develop a communications campaign for the first National Comic Day, we knew this was about more than a promotional assignment. It was about establishing a new national holiday.
Background
Reading culture in Slovenia is declining. Readership is falling across all generations, most noticeably among young people, who increasingly spend their time in front of screens with ever-shortening attention spans. At the same time, 2025 brought a special opportunity: the centenary of the birth of Miki Muster, one of Slovenia’s most important comic creators.
The Ministry of Culture decided that 22 November would become National Comic Day – a date intended to position comics as a legitimate literary and visual form, and to encourage reading and visual literacy across all generations. Slovenia thus became one of the rare countries in the world to officially mark this day.
Solution
We conceived the project as a comprehensive communications campaign running from October to December 2025, built around a simple yet powerful idea: an empty comic frame as an invitation to create.
Comics live in the reader, not in a logo. That is why we designed the visual identity around an empty comic frame – a space waiting to be filled with someone’s imagination, with their own character. From this idea grew the campaign’s headline slogan:
“I have character. I read comics.”
- We launched the project with a press conference at the Ministry of Culture (6 Oct 2025), followed by a professional meeting with publishers (24 Oct 2025) – bringing key stakeholders from the comics community into the project at an early stage.
- At the Tinta Festival at Kino Šiška, we set up an interactive information point featuring a board, totem and promotional materials, where visitors became part of the story themselves – through drawing, reading and sharing.
- The central event was held on 22 November at the City Museum, where Minister of Culture Asta Vrečko addressed the audience. The atmosphere was created by the duo Slika z jezika, who combined rap and live drawing to create animated stories on canvas.
- The campaign continued at the Slovenian Book Fair, where three events reached both professional and general audiences.
- In parallel, a digital and media campaign ran throughout: we produced a headline video and shorter pieces in the distinctive comic aesthetic of Slika z jezika. A dedicated chapter was the DOOH activation across the DigiLight Center network – 40 LCD displays running from 18–24 November 2025.
- We produced and distributed promotional materials: posters, comic bookmarks, stickers and a totem – all within a unified visual identity combining the logo, color palette, and comic elements.
- The story was also taken up organically by schools, libraries and local media across Slovenia – without any additional push.
Result
- More than 60 media appearances across national and local online outlets.
- More than 700 visitors at live events.
- Nearly 2 million impressions (1,988,418) through the DOOH activation.
- A special 4-page feature in the Saturday edition of the newspaper Delo (22 November 2025).
- Voluntary participation from schools and libraries across Slovenia.
- Project delivered within the fixed contract value.
Yet the most important result is not a number. It is the fact that National Comic Day became a genuine cultural event – with its own identity, community and story that will continue. We created the space. The people gave it character. Because good stories always begin on a blank page.
