Created in collaboration with Volumes Zürich, this four-part book is equal parts manifesto, working archive, and conversation about what publishing is—and what it can become—between Korea and the German-speaking region.

1.-CHF Grafik is a street-level graphic design activism project that asks a simple question: if design becomes culture, can people feel it? In Basel—a city often described as “well-designed”—I tested public awareness by offering on-the-spot graphic design for 1 CHF. The nominal price was intentional: it framed the exchange as real value rather than charity and opened conversations about what design actually does. Over several days I knocked on doors of small local shops and approached passers-by, inviting them to try a quick design intervention. The responses revealed a striking split. Many people did not know what “graphic design” meant, mistaking my offer for hanging a painting or decorating a wall. Others, who already grasped design’s impact, had two or three designers on call—even in very small businesses. Equally telling was the hesitation: a large number of people struggled to decide whether to try something new in the realm of design or art simply because they had never done so before. The project surfaces a paradox of design-rich environments: when design works, it disappears into everyday life. 1.-CHF Grafik makes that invisibility visible. By bringing design out of the studio and into ordinary transactions, it measures design culture not by style or prestige, but by public understanding, decision-making, and trust.





Design Practice II
Jiri Oplatek