CreNative

2011/9/26

Ukrainian design now is in a rather unstable state and evokes mixed judgments. Many specialists suppose that one of the problems of the professional Ukrainian design is a brake between "old" and "new" specialists. While new techniques and instruments have being come into service, most young people have to master themselves because instructors of the "old guard" are not always familiar with these techniques. In reference to quality design, the competition level there is quite low, a lack of understanding of design significance being terrific. Even those clients who are ready to order and to pay for a high class work often don't understand one hundred percent what they do it for, how to use it and what good could it do to their business. The design industry in the Ukraine, one can say, is still very young. However, even nowadays, there are in the Ukraine some advertisement agencies, small artwork studios and some designers that make European class product.

Every design is risk-taking. You can never say advance for sure if an idea works. To work efficiently a designer must be of a deep insight of the context he is going to work with. A designer investigates the social world a user lives in, including social codes and rituals, interaction rules and key influence sources. So, one can say with confidence, that modern trends of Ukrainian design depend equally on a designer and on a client because design is called to meet users' demands, not designers' ones.

Now, design is still connected with covering demands, that is, with style of life, mode, changeable taste, cultural significance. Being closely interweaved with design, these trends represent a whole set of different events in the world of technologies that generate (give rise to) new design applications as well as new demands. New manufacturing techniques and materials, in their turn, stimulate more diversified design development.

It is difficult to speak about general style of Ukrainian design. But speaking about Ukrainian design difference, it shows itself most strongly in its folklore component. There is much in the Ukraine that preserved from the past and there is much to be proud of. Even nowadays, people try to use Ukrainian authenticity, folk and primitive painting motives both in their dress and in other things.

However, many countries have their own folklore, and the designer must not only act on the premise of folklore elements. Design is a field that requires permanent improvement. It is an alive, changeable concept. It is movable in time, and a designer must always be in the stream of fresh information. The task of a Ukrainian designer is now to stir a big audience, to find a balance between cultural heritage of the past and fancy trends of the present, but not only to say: "Look here, what a fine folklore we have!"

Various exhibitions and contests that are rather often hold in the Ukraine help to discover one's potential and to show one's abilities. Just later, there was an international advertisement festival in Kiev, where the Ukrainian designers got awards in the scope of advertisement.

The "Ukraine –brand" contest DESIGN TOMORROW has allowed to show new names in the field of branding and graphic design. That was, in the first place, an occasion for young designers of the Ukraine to make them known. No importance, a competitor is proper educated or no. The main condition is one's striving to change something, the desire to put one's part in the Ukrainian design development.

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The latest events in the life of the Ukraine have forced the public opinion to understanding of the design role on the world political scene, in the scope of cultural and sportive life, of tourism and entertainments. Ukrainian designers had developed and officially presented the logos of the Ukrainian towns – participants of Euro-2012. Also, they are actively searching a symbol, a logotype that could represent the Ukraine on world level. Many design studios put in the bid. Here you can see the works of one of them in this area.

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Earlier, design was mostly anonym and nobody but a mere handful of people could manage to break out of that faceless community and to prove themselves. Today, design "has emerged from underground", design market competition has taken a sound turn giving a new potential to the Ukrainian designers professional advancement.

Certainly, today design has already departed from the canons of the past. There come orders from abroad and many studios designers cooperate with their foreign colleagues, exchange experience, are well-known abroad and even have offices there. But that is only the beginning. Every festival being held and every catalog being issued don't stop to demonstrate it, to demonstrate creative development and professional advancement of Ukrainian designers. More and more often they make them known in the world, take part in prestigious exhibitions and win prestigious awards.

Quotation

Photo 1 - "Stylist Brand, Stylish Logo"Artemov Artel Portfolio
Photo 2 - Mr.Maccherone Altima Portfolio | Logos&Identity
Photo 3 - Cult-Baba-Art on the Behance Network
Photo 4 - Bread & Flour Logo and Brand Artemov Artel Design
Photo 5 - "Skateboard" Ogilvy Group Ukraine(Silver B-7-5)
Photo 6, Photo 7, Photo 8 - Design Tomorrow 2010 winner
Photo 9 - Ukraine Logo Design Altima Portfolio | Logos&Identity

author

GERMAN LYUTAJEV
A leading designer of Altima and a graduate of Ismail State Humanitarian University. He has worked in Altima since 2006. He has 7 year's experience of work in graphic design and web development.

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