Every disappearing barrier brings the world closer.”

Creative idea

For Slovenians, travelling abroad once came with pauses. We exchanged tolars, calculated unfamiliar prices, queued at border checkpoints and passed documents through open car windows. These rituals have disappeared from everyday travel, but remain part of our collective memory. Nostalgia makes progress personal: a tolar banknote, an exchange slip or a raised barrier. I can still recall family trips, uncertainty and the excitement of reaching the other side. In 2007, two familiar barriers disappeared. First, Slovenia replaced the tolar with the euro. Then, joining Schengen removed controls at internal land borders. Today, Mastercard continues that movement by making the payment moment almost invisible. The three-poster series tells this short history of barriers dissapering through the rhythm once, then, now. Archival references anchor the campaign in collective memory. My inspiration was Nova Gorica (Slovenia), once shaped by division, later joined Gorizia (Italy) as the first cross-border European Capital of Culture, turning separation into connection. This is where the idea becomes unmistakably Mastercard. Accepted across borders, secure, trusted and built for modern movement, Mastercard removes friction without taking attention away from the experience. Languages, currencies and destinations change, but one familiar tap means the same thing everywhere. Scalability: Every market has its own archive of disappearing barriers, from former currencies and border crossings to paper tickets and queues. Local memories and imagery can change while the universal structure remains: once, then, now. Each story ends with the same promise: fewer barriers, a more connected world and every destination one tap closer. Sources: 1. Government of the Republic of Slovenia. https://www.gov.si/en/news/2020-12-22-important-dates-for-slovenia/ 2. GO! 2025. https://www.go2025.eu/en/about

Agency: THE OTHER, Ljubljana
Authors: Alenka Mivšek, Petra Vidrih