WHO: Project Polunin is a company dedicated to supporting, nurturing and creating new work through collaborations between dancers, artists, musicians and choreographers from all creative backgrounds.
WHAT: Logo design and corporate identity
WHERE: London / United Kingdom
STORY: Branding for the world-famous Ukrainian ballet dancer Sergei Polunin. The greatest dancer of his generation. Sergei has a reputation for wild behavior, earning the nickname the Bad Boy of Ballet. He has gained more popularity following his performance in a music video choreographed to Hozier‘s hit single “Take Me To Church.” The music video was part of a larger Steven Cantor documentary on Polunin, Dancer.
The talented people belong not to one company, but to the dance world, but top-level dancers, thanks to branding, social media and advertising contracts, are increasingly able to capitalize on their own brands. Talented Ukrainian designers were asked to envision the only brand image for Polunin.
We took the contrasting themes of world ballet heritage with a modern, high-class identity that embodies the Sergei’s mission of awakening and uplifting the spirit of young generation cultivating tomorrow’s stars of the dance world. With a contemporary style and approach, Polunin is continually seeking to innovate and challenge the notions of ballet as an artform.
During our research we examined the branding for many of the major ballet dancers around the world. To create something truly unique, we decided that we needed to avoid traditional stereotypes and the ballet iconography often used in competing brands.
New Polunin’s identity symbolizes freedom, but also ambition, fierceness and the bravery of youth. Like the flight of Icarus it signifies pride and desire to reach the sky.