Khortytsia - the island of a mystery

Creative Director: Ilia Anufrienko Account Director: Nataliia Blazhkun Account Manager: Kateryna Soboleva Senior Designer: Kseniia Milchenko 3d, motion Designer: Alexei Boiev Sound Designer: Andrii Bezliudnyi Strategist: Sergiy Lizunov Junior Strategist: Mariia Kochurenko Client Office of the President of Ukraine Metinvest Group BigCityLab

Khortytsia Island occupies a special place in the history and geography of Ukraine. Its age is 3 billion years. This is the home of the legendary freedom fighters - Ukrainian Cossacks. And much more ... But no one knows what exactly. The association of the Museum of the Cossacks firmly established itself behind the island and supplanted all its other attractive aspects. As a result, only those people who are interested in the Cossacks come to the island. We were challenged to develop a tourism brand that would open the island to internal and external tourism, show its diversity and encourage people to explore Khortitsa. Yes, Ukrainians don‘t know a lot about the island of Khortytsia, but what if this is an advantage, not a disadvantage? What if a travel brand wouldn’t talk about the delights of the place, but will rather create intrigue and will become an incentive for a person to explore the island himself? The Khortitsa Island brand is a graphic journey. Some elements are fully visible and some are hidden behind a cloak of secrecy. The more you immerse yourself in the world of the island, the more the identity is revealed. Abstract knowledge about the island becomes a personal experience: visual, tactile, sound, aromatic. The identity invites you to look behind the scenes, learn more and explore. All design elements were created based on the real attributes of Khortytsia: flora and fauna, historical artifacts, images from myths and legends, bronze, water, stone and other materials that make up the inner world of the island. The X sign is the first letter in the name of the island in Ukrainian and is also a symbol of mystery, its meaning may be different for everyone. We took X as a basis and created 24 different logos. Additionally, we have developed a accidental font based on the shape of the roots to highlight the ancient history of the island. Khortytsya at all times was of particular importance for local tribes and peoples. The “curtain” effect, that reveals the deep essence of Khortytsia to a person is easily scalable and works with graphics, illustration and photography in typography as well. This principle unites all parts of the identity and makes the island’s brand recognisable.