SUWAŁKI

BACKGROUND

Suwałki is a city in northeastern Poland that for many years has struggled with the label of the national "pole of cold" and a spot on the weather forecast map. Previous communication used an image of a polar bear. While the residents sympathized with the bear, it didn’t help the city get out of the "weather box." However, Suwałki itself and its surroundings have much more to offer. That's why a team of people involved in the city matters, who are active and want to influence its further development, has developed a new Promotion Strategy with a perspective until 2030.

The assumptions of the strategy had to be supported visually to direct the city's brand on the right track. And this part was Rio’s responsibility. Our first step was to organize a panel discussion with the team responsible for the strategy and representatives of city structures, business and NGOs. We focused on the character of the city, and how the large catalog of elements of the city's identity can be transferred to the area of its image and assets, which has been quite poor so far (the Polish pole of cold, Suwałki Region). It's also an opportunity to look at Suwałki objectively and choose the right way to visual communication.

COMMUNICATION ASSUMPTIONS

The conclusions allowed us to determine what this place really is and prepare a targeted visual identity. It is based on the idea of communicating Suwałki as a place worth discovering, good for life, outgoing and cheerful. Cheerfulness here has many dimensions that we are discovering - it is also serenity, optimism and good energy that allow the city to realize its potential in various areas. A cheerful attitude eases the implementation of activities, and the good spirit of the place becomes its residents.

VISUAL IDENTITY

We refer to Suwałki's serenity in it. We show in various ways what Suwałki is really like, and "cheerful" is a common feature that hides many other attributes - because Suwałki is also friendly, hospitable and energetic.

We have proposed a solution in which "cheerful" is optional, leaving Suwałki as the main communicational part. In addition, you can replace "cheerful" with other appropriate adjectives, related to the identity of the city and the message you want to send to your audience. This makes Suwałki a many-sided and complex organism, just as the urban area is complex. We designed markers for particular values, and they are just examples that can be developed and multiplied. The typography in the sign itself, as well as in the additional messages, is cheerful and evokes positive emotions.

We made sure to embrace as many areas of activity as possible - not only tourism, but also sports, culture, business and local government. The polar bear, a character so far characteristic of the city and its communications, now plays more the role of a complementary brand hero than a logo element.

The expanded color scheme is a reflection of Suwałki's varied climate. The leading blue and yellow refer to the previously used color motifs. Green emphasizes Suwałki's nature, and has its origin in the colors of the coat of arms - as does red. The design of the layouts has different solutions - on the one hand, it shows a "softer" and more creative presentation of messages, adding creative elements (lines, irregular color areas), on the other hand, it allows for simple and tool-like application of communication - folding it into block areas of information. A soft line suggests, shows and emphasizes and varies the important elements of the message.

Visual Identity
Logo
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2024

#TeamRio:
Marek Guziński
Marcin Jakowczyk
Marta Zarzycka
Izabela Bojanowska-Guz
Marcin Zgórski

Client:
Miasto Suwałki