Defensive Logo of Zhytomyr

Doris Agency: Borys Manokhin – art direction Maryna Fedotova – graphic design Oleksandr Strutovskyi – motion design Pavlo Shyshkovskyi – creative idea

Zhytomyr – one of the few Ukraіnian cities that has its own logo, which is really “its own”, not formal or just in a creators’ or officials'’ mind. Alive and native. Logo, created by us in 2014, quickly became part of the DNA of the city. It is a constant presence in the routine life of every resident who has dealings with the city council, celebrates City Day or those who just spend time at weekends walking in the city centre. But the routine of normal life stopped on the 24th of February. The war came to Ukraine and the quiet, peaceful and friendly city had to change. Zhytomyr had to show its opposite side: fortitude, organisation and its ability to defend itself. Alongside this the logo has had to transform to represent and reflect this change. There was a lot of communication of information at this time. The city Mayor addressed the people regularly throughout each day, social media of the utilities were full of messages, the city news portals were renewed minute by minute. All of this was equally important but at times divergent and chaotic. We wanted to collect all of the important defence initiatives under a single symbol which would be familiar and help to keep people calm. A symbol which could translate the feelings of composure, confidence and strength to defend the right of Zhytomyr to live in its own way