Spirit of Fire / Duh Ognya
BNW has embarked on the challenging adventure to establish a new identity for the “Spirit of Fire” film festival. How could a film festival in Khanty-Mansiysk, a real pearl of Siberia, become unique in comparison with millions of other film festivals? The answer lies in showing its rich cultural heritage through a new logo, style guide, internal assets, digital assets, website, and 360-degree communication of the brand. BNW's proposal for “Spirit of Fire” new aesthetic signature creates a distinctive look that integrates a traditional ornament with modern forms.
The international festival of cinematic debuts “Spirit of Fire” was conceived in 2002 in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra in the central part of the West Siberian Plain. The main show of the festival remained the international debut film competition, in which films from many countries have participated over the years. According to the regulations, out of 10–12 competition films, no more than two can be in Russian. Every year at the “Spirit of Fire” there are many thematic shows, non-competition programs, and retrospectives.
Khanty-Mansiysk exists in two dimensions at once: on one street there are buildings of the 21st century that are unique in their architecture and wooden houses from the early-mid 20th century. Over the past 20 years, the face of Khanty-Mansiysk has changed dramatically with unexpected architectural ensembles, fountains and lighting design. Residents of Khanty-Mansiysk are proud of their city and carefully preserve its history, which is more than 430 years old.
The brand’s former visual identity didn’t represent the its future-looking commitment. The festival needed a modern brand that stood out from their competitors in the film festival industry, as well as communicating a main difference - the unique cultural heritage of the region.
In analyzing the elements of Ugra's identity and heritage, BNW turned to the most recognizable symbols of identity for help in developing a new language for its main cultural product: festival “Spirit of Fire”. At the same time, BNW had to simultaneously adapt it to a new, digital future, corresponding to the new digital future of the films shown at the festival.
Tracing Ugra's own coordinate system, the new “Spirit of Fire” logo is a combination of traditional ornaments with a modern pattern.
Logotype offers the same ornament/snowflake frame and a name written in a Dusseldot typeface, with three variations of one key changing element in focus: a square, a rotated square, and a circle, all in the same proportions. All three versions have the aim to simplify future visual communications and improve consistency across communication channels.
The “Spirit of Fire” typography uses Dusseldot font, that balances the best with a strong illustration, Gosha Sans and Arial font. Dusseldot has three main styles, one of which is a classic font as we know it, and two are abstract forms, which represent the movement of a person walking through Düsseldorf, recorded through GPS tracking. Variability allows one style to flow into another smoothly; this deformation can be stopped at any point, isolating the movement within phases. It enables the creation of twisted glyphs. Dusseldot supports most European languages and Cyrillic.
As the name is as beautiful and powerful as "Spirit of Fire", the colors should show just that. The color palette is comprised of vibrant colors inspired by Aurora Borealis, the magical Northern Lights in Ugra.
It is remarkable that the main motifs of Ugra’s ornaments have already been completely digitized, documenting the magical, powerful and universal understanding of the world by their ancestors, their traditions and readiness for the future.
The new visual identity of the festival is communicated through means of a seriously developed brand tool-box: brochures, advertisements, proprietary logo and typography, promo-tools and a new website.
