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Studio PUNKT about good design and the visual identity of MELBA 2022

November 22, 2022

For more than 15 years Studio PUNKT has been developing brand identities, illustrations, typefaces and conceptual communication campaigns for clients around the world. The team strives to translate ideas into real, authentic stories told through a sensitive visual language and through a variety of media.

It was Studio PUNKT that created the visual identity for the fifth edition of the MELBA Design Festival. We talk to them about their activities, the challenges in their craft, some interesting projects and turning points in the graphic designer’s creative path.

Could you please introduce studio PUNKT in a few words?

We are a creative studio working in a team of 7 people, based in Plovdiv and Sofia. We’ve been around for 15 years and until now we haven’t stopped being motivated and trying to change the world around us a little bit for the better.

How did you work as a team for 15 years already?

It comes naturally to us. With each successful project, the tasks become more interesting and require more varied approaches. The team is gradually enriched with colleagues and everyone contributes to the overall look of the studio. We are flexible enough and often have to have a colleague to replace another one in a project and continue the work in their own style, but this has always taken us in the right direction so far. We also constantly rely on our wide network of good partnerships and connections with colleagues when we know our expertise is not enough.

What is the current visual identity of the MELBA Festival and what did you want to communicate with it?

It’s not our first time creating a festivals visual identity, but it’s our first time doing it for a design festival. Most of the audience at such events are our colleagues, designers, people with a high visual culture.We decided to take a risk with the idea and ask the question in a provocative way: how easy is it to be a designer in 2022?We achieved this primarily with the colors #FFFF00 and #FF0000 (for those who don’t read HEX, this is the cheapest, easiest and most effective way to get attention) plus disproportionately stretched shapes and quick, “notebook” pencil drawings.Another thing that inspired us was the festival’s first visual identity, created by NEXT-DC (the digital agency which is responsible for all the cool MELBA looks so far). We wanted to make reference to what that first vision very successfully managed to communicate – a sweet, diverse, delicious and classy experience.

Materials for MELBA 2022, created by studio PUNKT 🙌

What were the main creative challenges you encountered while working on the visual identity for MELBA 2022?

Mainly how far down the rabbit hole we could crawl. We had a big concern, especially for the festivals website, that in a UX sense it would become too inaccessible. However, after a few tests we think we achieved a good balance.

Where do you find a dose of inspiration when you lack of ideas?

We have diverse personalities in our team and everyone has their own interests. When we’re together, it’s rare for ideas to get stuck because most of the time we inspire each other. Beside of that we have a solid archive of the coolest brochures and flyers that each of us has collected when we’ve been somewhere abroad. Occasionally, one of us happens to browse them, and accidentally it turns into a teambuilding exercise where everyone shares their impressions or memories of one place or another.

ADATA AiR Residency Program, a part of Plovdiv 2019

Where can we find you when you are not working?

We love the outdoors and escape there at the first opportunity. But that doesn’t mean we don’t work those hours, we just don’t charge them.

What is the most valuable lesson/motto for a graphic designer?

Just like you can’t become an artist without an eraser, you can’t become a designer without Cmd+Z (Ctrl+Z for Windows users).

Regionale – guide for tourism and culture

DEZEEN DAILY FEATURES ELITZA BONEVA

March 19, 2018

What a pleasant surprise to find in the daily newsletter of the internationally renowned and popular design media – DEZEEN – an article on the young product designer from Bulgaria Elitsa Boneva. Her idea for a versatile desk lamp has been shortlisted for <a href=”https://www.made.com/talentlab/”>TalentLab</a> – a platform for emerging designers, initiated by the British furniture maker Made.com.

The meaning and impact for the young participants is the real chance to see their product replicated for the many in the store chain of the brand. TalentLab invites all web site visitors to give their vote for a favourite concept and thus decide which ones have the greatest potential to lure customers through an innovative and dynamic product range.

Dezeen has also featured a video with Elitsa Boneva and her work process:

Ellieday is the name of the lamp and it strikes a stylish pose, accompanied with a stable but flexibly adjustable construction, which offers freedom and convenience while in use.

“I wanted to combine traditional techniques and materials in a contemporary product,” she continues. The light is designed to be manufactured using a lathe, and is constructed from traditional materials including steel and brass.

Елица Бонева наскоро завършва университета

Elitsa Boneva is a graduate of <a href=”https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/our-students/student-profiles/b/elitsa-boneva/”>Northumbria University</a> and specialises in <a href=”http://www.leebroom.com/”>Lee Broom</a>’s studio. In the future, Elitsa wants to have her own furniture company.

We wish her success both with the TalentLab competition and the realisation of her professional dream.

WallStack – the new brand by Petar Zaharinov

February 7, 2018

Petar Zaharinov continues his study of space optimisation by experimenting with foldable and lightweight modules, this time offering a wall system whose perforation encourages an easy and personalised distribution of hangers and shelf supports so as to achieve the most suitable and desirable result without heavy and serious assemblage. His partners in this endeavour are Svetlin Peev (Head of Design) and Alex Safari (Head of Production).

Zaharinov’s new brand is called WallStack referring to a wall system, which can conveniently, easily and quickly change from a pop-up shopping stand, to an open office or an art gallery. In a simple and clean style and pleasant unobtrusive material, Petar Zaharinov’s solution allows for a sustainable, long-lasting and original way of acquiring a space, regardless of its function. An additional positive feature of WallStack is its reusability, foldability and ease of retrieval as well as its adaptation to various roles without the need for heavy machinery and tools.

“WallStack is a customizable partition wall system that can revolutionize retail and office spaces. The patent pending technology behind it is extremely simple and effective. We implemented it in a modular solution that is both foldable and stackable with no need of any tools. Moreover, its modularity does not compromise with the final look of the structure, providing a smooth flat surface, without visible structural parts. The system is not only reusable but also appropriate for many different applications. The variety of finish options gives freedom in playing with color and style.”

Visit the web site for more information.

The New Visual Identity of EMO ETAR

January 19, 2018

This summer, on the initiative of the Ethnographic Open-air Museum ETAR and the Municipality of Gabrovo, an internal competition was held for the renewal of the museum’s visual identity – a pillar of customs of our past. Breaking the status quo, attracting leading Bulgarian design studios to work on the project, and upgrading such an institution, we see as an important step forward and role model in this sector. Boril Karaivanov (appearing in Melba – here) was invited to carry out the ambitious task, who selected the invited studios and directed them according to the assignment. The jury selected Krasen Krastev‘s project whose dynamic concept is dedicated to ETAR as a place of living traditions.

Krasen Krastev is one of the most highly regarded Bulgarian design specialists who deals with fonts and visual communication. He succeeds in a fine analytical way to sense the context of each assignment and to offer a clear and distinct visual solution. Such is his proposal for the development of ETAR – the open-air museum, which keeps traditional crafts, beauties and culture from the 18th to the 20th century. In his approach, Krasen balances skillfully between respect for the old and brave treatment of the new. We look forward to seeing the development of identity in the final print, web site and implemented in all the elements of the museum vision.

ETAR nowadays:

Gallery from the project of Krasen Krastev:

Water Culture

January 19, 2018

Water Culture is among the first projects of Generator – the center of design and innovation in Sofia. The initiative explores the feasible solutions for better utilisation of the enormous natural wealth our city has – the mineral springs. In several stages and different kinds of initiatives, Water Culture informs, calls for action and helps in reaching prototypes for a product or service related to the topic: How to make the mineral fountains of Sofia more familiar, more accessible and more attractive for more people?

The visual identity of the project is a very important part of the communication, and one which we are especially happy and proud of, because it tunes in a fine and precise way our message and goals. Presenting below his author Filip Boyadjiev – graphic designer, graduate of the National Academy of Arts. “I was very lucky to get through the various aspects of graphic design early and I managed to choose the field in which I want to develop, namely identity and wayfinding. I have been teaching at the National Academy of Arts (Department of Books, illustration and print graphics) and I freelance at the rest of the time.”