While the Chornobyl nuclear disaster lives on within the global collective memory, the towns within the 30-kilometer Chornobyl exclusion zone are gradually disappearing, destroyed by the passing of time and gradually absorbed by nature.
In response, the Ukrainian advertising agency Banda has created a new logo for the exclusion zone as a way to remind people of the worst nuclear tragedy in history.
On Apr. 26, 1986, near the city of Chornobyl in the Ukrainian Soviet Union, a reactor exploded at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, releasing a cloud of highly radioactive dust into the air and affecting the lives of millions of people.
Today about 150 people live in the zone, despite the fact that it is illegal to reside there.
By 2064, the settlements in northern Ukraine around the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant will completely disappear.
To make sure people remember the disaster even when the towns are completely gone, the Banda agency has created a highly symbolic, visual representation of this change as the official branding for the exclusion zone.
The logo will be used for promotional materials, tours and other marketing purposes related to the exclusion zone by both private and state companies. Banda also says that companies will be able to use the logo for creating merchandise for sale, including shirts and tote bags.
The center image is a black octagon — in the shape of the fourth reactor that exploded.
The logo will change every year to represent the changes in the exclusion zone. Each year the octagon will appear slimmer, as it radiates backwards into itself until it disappears completely.
Companies that use the logo will have to renew it each year on the day of the tragedy — April 26.
“We needed to find a strong visual image that would make people think and learn an important lesson — every action has a consequence,” the agency writes on its website.
Its designers believe that the slight annual changes in the logo may help turn the merch with it into collectible items.
The idea for the logo came up during a staff excursion to the exclusion zone.
“We experienced untransferable emotions and got the idea to create a brand for this territory. We talked with the administration of the zone and they supported us,” says the project manager Iryna Pikalova by email.
It took around one year to complete the idea.
“We are particularly proud that we have an opportunity to implement creativity in the public sector of Ukraine. And most of all — that this creativity works,” Pikalova writes.
Together with Other Land Studio and Orient Web Development, they also created a new website to present information about the exclusion zone and how to visit it.
The Banda agency is famous in Ukraine. They usually carry out advertising strategies for companies like Puma, OLX, Moyo, Good Wine and even for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Banda ranked as the most effective independent agency in 2020 by the global Effie Index awards.
