I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the professor Walter Conti, his professionalism and enthusiasm helped me to organise my ideas and express them in this project.

The project developer Natalia Chobanu,a professional adviser Walter Conti. December 2011.

INTRODUCTION

This project presents a development of a new Identity for a small but unique town, which is located in the heart of Russia - Kostroma.

The Kostroma Oblast (known as the Kostroma Guberniya (Province) until the Revolution of 1917) with its capital, the town of Kostroma, is one of the Russian regions immensely rich with ideas, symbols, and attributes of Russian spirituality, traditions, and the national and state mission. Moreover, it is probably the only Russian region that retained its spiritual value and role unaltered even during the Soviet era. At the same time, by Russian standards the region is relatively small and of low economic importance. If it were not for its precious heritage, the region would have been annexed to the neighbouring Yaroslavl Oblast or Ivanovo Oblast (the Kostroma area’s status was in fact temporarily abolished in 1929).

Kostroma’s main attributes, deeply significant for Russia, include the following: it is the birth place of the House of Romanov (the royal dynasty that had ruled over Russia for 300 years, until the Revolution of 1917), it is also home to Snegurochka (the folkloric Snow Maiden), “the town protected by God” – it is the centre of Orthodox spirituality, and the native town of the famous film director Andrei Tarkovsky ... and so on. All these factors make the task of choosing the main visual semantic element of the sign and proposing the idea of the sign itself a challenging task of great responsibility.Kostroma also boasts a historical coat of arms that is the first coat of arms ever used by a city in Russian history.

Certainly, spirituality, heritage, numerous monuments and sights are the basis of Kostroma’s appeal (international as well), but there is a less positive side to this “historical” attitude: the creation and maintaining of the stereotype of an “outdated” region. This stereotype is not targeted towards development, attracting investors and generating new ideas. Meanwhile modernization, efficiency increase and innovation economics have become central topics in present-day Russia.

The applicability of the project also deals with the worldly all-Russian significance of Kostroma, which is a Russian province par excellence. Therefore, the project, apart from providing interesting options of the content semantics, should neatly solve the issue of combining anciently with modernity.

There is another important aspect to the heritage of the territory. Currently many of the area’s spiritual attributes, highly significant as they are, do not have a standard visualization – or virtually have none. This includes such notions as “the Russian soul”, the state of being “protected by God”, “the Russian spirit”, and “moral heritage”.Based on research findings, the following work has been produced…

Coat of arms of Kostroma.

Kostroma region’s coat of arms shows a galea (lodiya or keel-ship), an early Russian boat with oars, a sail and the imperial flag. This coat of arms was approved by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, later taken away by her son, and readopted only in 1992.

The Romanov royal family Icon “The Vladimir Madonna” Andrei Tarkovsky - Russian filmmaker, writer and film editor.

Snegurochka is a character in Russian Christmas fairy tales.

KOSTROMA CITY THROUGH THE TIME

1152 2012

The city Kostroma is located 330 km to North-East from Mos-cow on the confluence of Volga and Kostroma rivers.The city itself was based in 1152 by prince Jury Dolgoruki. Up to the middle of XVIth century it remained an unique fortress on the left coast of Volga and several times took up impacts of enemies of Russia. Kostromites have played an appreci-able role in struggles against Mongolian aggressors and in the

events of the Time of Troubles. 1613 in Kostroma was left on reign Michael the founder of the Tsar Dynasty Romanovs. In the middle of XVIIth century Kostroma became on size and value the fourth city after Moscow, Yaroslavl and Kazan. To the beginning of XIXth century province Kostroma took the second place in Russia on manufacturing of linen products and unconditionally took priority over their export abroad.

Moscow and Moscow region.

have area, at 46,900 km2, population of 7,092,94.

Kostroma region.

A part of the Golden Ring of Russian towns Population: 268,617. Area - 60,100 km2 It is served by Kostroma Airport.

GENERAL CONCEPTION AND CONDITION FOR THE PROJECT

KOSTROMA’S SLOGAN - “THE SOUL OF RUSSIA”

trademark

sign

logo

A reflection of the SOUL:It seems that the “image” of the soul as a sign can bring general sensations and colour palette, rather than the image of the heart or other “love“ symbols.

Associations and inspiration:- bright- warm-- natural- rich- contrast- sustainable- friendly- sincerity- dynamics- positivity- development- creativity

OBJECTto create laconic sign, clear, simple, and which contains

the idea that reflects the essence of the brand.

VARIANTS FORDEVELOPMENT :

SCHEME AT THIS STAGEto sketch the possible

elements of the logo, which will be composed the Trade

Mark in original way

MARK OUTideological components, which will connect the feeling, colour, shape, composition in the sign

SKETCHESto created a number of drawings and associative links between them for the possible development of the figure mark.

RIVER, CULTURE / HISTORY;MAP OF THE CITY

1 way KOKOSHNOK (is a traditional Russian head-dress worn by women and girls in 16-19 century)- city map- the spiritual centre, the image of the church dome- the image of a traditional headdress girls- the image of the sun- the form of a diamond - jewellery

2 wayARCHITECTURE AND NAME- to link architectural ensemble and stroked name Kostroma- possibility to combined with “kokoshnik”- a form of crown

Searching for the colour palette typical for Kostroma landscape,

art works, architects, tradition and sensation.

1 2 3

5

7 8

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4

GENERAL CONCEPTION AND CONDITION FOR THE PROJECT

1. Kokoshnik (traditional headdress for girls in ancient Russia); 2. element of the Kostroma’s architecture - arc - entrance; 3. Feodorovskaya Holy Mother Icon; 4. sunrise; 5. traditional costumes; 6. Ipatiev Monastery, Kostroma; 7. Snegurochka; 8. B. Kustodiev. A merchant woman. 1923 (an artist, who was born in Kostroma)

MAP CONCEPT FOR DEVELOPMENT

Shapes, like interpretations of the outlines of the city centre of Kostroma, that should be like a base for the sign of the logo.

Authenticity:any sign of his concept can be developed in a different style - we need IDEA

Left picture - map of the city Kostroma (1997)Right picture - old map of the city Kostroma (1871)

Based on the shapes - derivatives of the pattern of streets on the maps were developed by the polygons that were the basis for the sign of the trademark.

Were analysed as well old maps, which allowed to diversify forms.

FINAL LOGO

Font: HelveticaA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Za b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ? ! ( # &

Sign and logotype

The final logo is in some sense an abstract symbol, it reminds kokoshnik, map, halo, and the sun.Due to its abstract and geometrical it could reflect a numbers of different symbols and meanings.

Constructions of the sign and logo. All construction lines are align to the gird.

Special area around the logo, that should always bee free.

BASIC ELEMENTS: HOW TO USE

Final logo in colour.In the sign there different gradation of the same colour, on the name Kostroma - there is some division into three greens. The slogan takes hot red to underline the meaning of warming of Russian soul.

Main colour, that supposed to be used on different surfaces. There could be only combinations of these five colours or black/white, that should be in contrast with a background.

D

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BASIC ELEMENTS: FORBIDDEN TO USE

A-C. Forbidden to use any other gradation of colour palette or other colour for logo.

D. Forbidden to use negative black colour for logo except when it is black&white publishing with white background.

E. Forbidden to change proportion or rotate any parts of logo.

F. Forbidden to change lettering or to use for logo any font.

G. Forbidden to use negative of logo on the photography.

H-I. Logo should be enough in contrast with a background.

The Kostroma logo must never be altered or recreated without the prior permission.

The logo should only be reproduced from master digital artwork supplied specifically for this purpose.

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G

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B

F

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C

These are the basic rules for the logo and the background, further and more detailed features will appear in the later development of the project. Although the logos may be printed on a variety of backgrounds, no words or images should overlap or merge with it. It should never be combined with another symbol or logo. The sign and Logotype should never appear on two different coloured backgrounds.

BASIC ELEMENTS: HOW TO USE RELATIVE TO CLOSE ELEMENTS

Always ensure that all logos appear equal in stature.

Never place the partner logo closer than the minimum clear space to the Kostroma logo

6x

12x

h

minor h - 35 mm

For legibility reasons, a minimum size at which the logo may be reproduced is recommended, the logo should never be reproduced for print any smaller.

Proportions of the logo is 6 partes to 12 parts. Destination to other object or logo should be always equal to one part all the same for horizontal or vertical.

No other type or graphic symbol can appear any closer than a distance equal to 1/6 the height of the logo. No extra type or objects may be attached to the logo. The sign of the logo should not be removed from the Logotype. The logos should not be used as part of a title, in a headline, or in a sentence.

Exclusion zonesAn exclusion zone of blank space around the logos always equal to 1/6 the height of the logo

For all versions an area of free space must be kept around the Kostroma logo. This is for optimum recognition and readability.

Example of arrangement logos on the bottom of the poster.

IDENTITY FOR GOVERNMENTS INSTITUTES

An example of the design for some elements of documentation for government structures - it is supposed the existence of a large amount of documentation, so for the contrast of are selected calm dark colours. Different tints match for various government structures.

On this page - variant of the lay out for the Annual Report for Kostroma region.Next page - Some elements of corporate documentation for one of the government institute.

The variant of using the grid for the construction of doorplate at the entrance to the building.

Supposed colour palette with three options for the various government structures.

IDENTITY FOR SOCIALINSTITUTES

For design, aimed at citizens, guests of the city selected bright, cheerful and positive colour, photos and illustrations that could create a sense of happiness and hope.

On this page there are some examples of using corporate design% advertising in magazine, sovenir bag, same posters at the streets.

As in the previous section, there is always yellow - symbolical colour for Kostroma. Complementary in this case are the following colours:

IDENTITY FOR PROMOTION CITY

Alternative of the promotion the city on the international exhibition. Proposal for the design posters, transport pass, navigation, badge and tickets to the exhibition.

Yellow - the main colour for Kostroma identity, it should be in every variant of using logo. In this case complementary colour for yellow goes light blue, together they create festive mood of the activity.

Suggested web design is exceled by laconic and simplicity, shape of truncated the sections in the lower left corner, remind Kostroma logo. As it is assumed that the site will have a lot of different data - that is why graphic of the website is minimal, to not to disturb the perception of information.

Were developed a number of icons to make navigation on the

site easier.

Approximate scheme for future website design.

WEB DESIGN AND SOCIAL NETWORK

The idea for the icon was taken by the sign of the trademark and was interpreted as a three-dimensional sheet - Webs.

Following the modern trends of today’s youth were proposed a design option for a social networking application for mobile devices as well as an icon for KOSTROMA SOCIAL.

Variant of the applying logo on T-shirts for promotion warm

attitude to the city from citizens and tourists.

CONCLUSION

In this project was given the beginning of the corporate identity for the city Kostroma. I would like the citizens of the city not only woukd get on with this new Identity, but grown fond this logo and the whole design. I wonder the Kostroma Identity would made it more beautiful and interesting and this city would surely rose to the Russian and the international scene of citie’s branding.