Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Receives an Official Logo

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone receives an official logo. It was developed by a Ukrainian creative agency, who are famous for creating the branding of Ukraine Now (so good that it has been copied many times by other people).

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the brand was presented on February 19 in Kiev with the participation of Deputy Chairman of the State Agency of Ukraine for Management of the Exclusion Zone Maxim Shevchuk, First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Bohdan Borukhovsky and Chairman of the State Agency for Tourism Development Maryan Oleskiv.

More: Banda h/t: contamination

“The Chernobyl zone is a unique phenomenon on our planet, and we must slightly change the main narratives used when mentioning it. Yes, this is the exclusion zone. But this is a development zone. A zone of protection and memory, but also a zone of the future,“ Borukhovsky said during the presentation.

The basis of the logo, which was developed by the creative agency Banda with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the State Agency for the Management of the Exclusion Zone and the State Agency for Tourism Development, is based on the shape of the surface of the reactor from which it all began.

This is the starting point for the existence of the logo, as if it were the logo of Chornobyl ’86. And every year the image changes and gradually disappears. The end point of the logo’s existence is 2064, when the Chernobyl power plant will be completely decommissioned.

This event closes this cycle of the history of the Zone and opens up space for new things – including other visual solutions.

The new visual system, changing every year, makes it possible to combine the past and the future in one space, thereby recalling the influence of the past on the present. Therefore, while transforming Chernobyl, it is also important to strengthen communication and change the visual perception of the Exclusion Zone, the participants of the presentation noted.

“Therefore, a brand creation project was launched. Banda agency has done a lot of work with both Ukrainian and foreign focus groups of different age and gender. They created a portrait of a typical visitor to the Exclusion Zone – and on the basis they developed a strategy and brand book. What is important, this work was done for us free of charge,“ Shevchuk said.