Ukraine NOW

Ukraine NOW is an official nation-promotion brand of Ukraine. It was developed in 2018 as a common visual and communications identity intended to present the country to international audiences in a contemporary, accessible, and flexible way. Its stated objectives included improving perceptions of Ukraine, encouraging tourism, attracting foreign investment, supporting exports, and providing public institutions and private organizations with a shared promotional language. The initiative emerged from a broader government effort to create a coordinated concept for popularizing Ukraine abroad. In 2017, the Ministry of Information Policy initiated the process and assembled an expert committee involving public officials, creative professionals, and other specialists. Research supported by the British government examined how Ukraine was perceived in several European markets, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland. The research identified strongly negative associations, including corruption, revolution, and war, while also suggesting that many people with no direct experience of Ukraine held limited or stereotyped views of its society and culture. The program therefore sought to replace fragmented or outdated representations with a more coherent national message. Banda Agency was selected to develop the final identity after a competitive process. The agency had previously worked on Ukraine's visual identity for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017. The project reportedly took approximately nine months, and proposed concepts were tested with target audiences, including with support from UkraineInvest. The Ukrainian Government approved the Ukraine NOW brand at a Cabinet meeting on May 10, 2018. The associated brand book was approved on September 26, 2018, establishing technical guidance for the identity's use. The central mark combines the word Ukraine with the communication element NOW and an icon based on UA, Ukraine's country-code top-level domain. The logo is deliberately modular: its elements can be adapted to different formats and subjects, while the icon can function as a thematic marker. The identity uses yellow, blue, and black as its principal colors. Its designated typeface, Yermylov Bold, was created for the project and draws inspiration from the work of Ukrainian constructivist artist Vasyl Yermylov. The resulting system was designed for digital and physical applications rather than for a single commercial product. Ukraine NOW can be used by state and municipal institutions, businesses, civil-society organizations, and individuals under the published usage principles. Applications have included websites, printed materials, souvenirs, television and radio, outdoor advertising, transport, social media, and other public-facing communications. The identity is particularly visible on Ukraine.ua, a government-backed platform presenting Ukraine to foreign audiences, and has been used by diplomatic and promotional institutions. Creative extensions have included logo generators, stickers, and an augmented-reality application connected with Ukraine's visa-free travel anniversary. The brand received international and Ukrainian design and marketing recognition, including a Red Dot Design Award, a 2018 X-Ray Marketing Awards distinction, and two Effie awards in the 2019 Ukrainian advertising competition. Public response was mixed. Supporters viewed the identity as modern, adaptable, and free from familiar decorative national clichés. Critics considered the logo overly simple or insufficiently distinctive and compared its visual language with familiar digital-platform marks. Despite the debate, Ukraine NOW became a widely reusable visual shorthand for official and semi-official international communications about Ukraine. It is best understood not as a conventional consumer brand or travel-booking service, but as a government-owned nation-branding and public-diplomacy system.

Ukraine NOW was created during a period when governments increasingly used unified national brands to coordinate tourism, investment, export, cultural, and diplomatic communications. Ukraine's Ministry of Information Policy began developing a national popularization concept in 2017. The initiative was motivated in part by research into Ukraine's image abroad. Studies conducted with British support used focus groups in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland and found that foreign audiences often associated Ukraine with corruption, political upheaval, and war. The findings also indicated that people unfamiliar with the country could perceive Ukrainians through negative stereotypes. The branding project was intended to provide a more constructive and recognizable framework for presenting the country. An expert committee was formed to guide the process and a competition was organized for possible visual concepts. Artem Bidenko, then State Secretary of the Ministry of Information Policy, was described as coordinating the concept and related work. Conrad Bird, associated with the United Kingdom's GREAT campaign, contributed expertise during the research and development process. Ukrainian designers and communications specialists then refined the proposals in response to the research. Concepts were tested with intended audiences, with UkraineInvest involved in the later evaluation stage. The selected proposal came from Banda Agency, a Ukrainian creative agency that had also worked on Ukraine's Eurovision 2017 visual identity. The agency's solution used the country's name, the word NOW, and a symbol derived from UA, Ukraine's internet country-code domain. The mark was intended to be flexible rather than fixed: components could be rearranged or adapted, and the icon could be modified to identify different topics or campaigns. The visual system used yellow, blue, and black, while the custom Yermylov Bold typeface referenced Ukrainian constructivist artist Vasyl Yermylov. The Cabinet of Ministers approved the brand on May 10, 2018. The identity was made available for use and adaptation by public bodies, municipalities, businesses, organizations, and individuals. On September 26 of the same year, the Cabinet approved a brand book commissioned by the Ministry of Information Policy through the Export Promotion Office, with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The brand book supplied practical rules for applying the identity consistently while preserving its flexible character. The identity was applied in both online and offline settings. It appeared in printed promotional material, souvenirs, broadcast media, outdoor advertising, transport, social networks, and government communications. The Ukraine.ua website adopted the visual language as an international-facing platform. Other projects extended the identity into interactive and participatory formats: image generators allowed users to create variations, KLEI and Banda developed stickers, and an augmented-reality application placed the mark on a biometric passport to commemorate the anniversary of Ukraine's visa-free regime with the European Union. Reception was not uniformly positive. Some observers argued that the logo was too generic and that the country name could be replaced without materially changing the design. Others valued its simplicity, contemporary typography, and avoidance of conventional national imagery such as folk ornament, churches, sunflowers, or embroidered patterns. Comparisons with the simple forms used by major digital services also prompted criticism. Nevertheless, the design won a Red Dot award, received recognition at the X-Ray Marketing Awards in 2018, and earned two Effie awards in 2019. Ukraine NOW subsequently functioned as a reusable government-backed identity for the international presentation of Ukraine, rather than as a commercial product brand or tourism marketplace.

• 2019

  Effie awards

  [1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Ukraine NOW received two awards in the Ukrainian Effie competition.

• 2018

  Banda Agency proposal selected

  [1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  The Ministry of Information Policy selected the Ukraine NOW concept developed by Banda Agency after research, competition, and audience testing.

• 2018

  Government approval

  [1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  The Cabinet of Ministers approved Ukraine NOW as an official national promotion brand on May 10.

• 2018

  Brand book approved

  [1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Technical standards for the identity were approved on September 26.

• 2018

  International design recognition

  [1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  The branding received a Red Dot Design Award and recognition at the X-Ray Marketing Awards.

• 2017

  National promotion concept initiated

  [1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Ukraine's Ministry of Information Policy initiated work on a common concept for promoting the country internationally and formed an expert process around it.

A modern, open, and adaptable national identity intended to promote Ukraine internationally across tourism, investment, exports, culture, and public diplomacy.

• Nation-brand identity · 2018

  Ukraine NOW visual identity

  The core offering is a modular identity combining the word Ukraine, the communication element NOW, and a UA-based icon. It uses yellow, blue, and black and is supported by the custom Yermylov Bold typeface. The system is designed to adapt to different subjects, formats, and communicators rather than operate as a fixed logo for one service.

• International promotion platform

  Ukraine.ua

  Ukraine.ua is an international-facing website using the Ukraine NOW visual language to present Ukraine to foreign audiences. It supports the broader goals of public diplomacy, tourism promotion, cultural communication, and international awareness rather than functioning as an online travel agency.

• Brand standards · 2018

  Ukraine NOW brand book

  The brand book defines technical and practical principles for using the identity. It enables state institutions, municipalities, businesses, organizations, and individuals to apply or adapt the mark across digital, print, broadcast, outdoor, transport, social-media, and merchandise contexts.

• Digital campaign tools · 2018

  Ukraine NOW interactive extensions

  The identity has been extended through image generators, stickers, and an augmented-reality application that placed the logo on a biometric passport. These projects encouraged public participation and connected the national identity with specific moments in Ukraine's international and travel communications.

• 2018Ukraine NOW national promotion campaign

  United Kingdom · Germany · Poland · International

  The campaign introduced a shared national identity intended to improve Ukraine's international image and support tourism, investment, exports, and public diplomacy. Its development drew on perception research and audience testing.

  Outcome. The identity was adopted by the Ukrainian Government, made available for broad use, and applied across official websites, media, promotional materials, and other communications.

  Source
• 2018Ukraine NOW image generators

  Ukraine · International digital audiences

  Web productions created tools that allowed users to generate or customize visual applications of the Ukraine NOW identity.

  Outcome. The tools broadened public participation in the identity and demonstrated its intended flexibility.

  Source
• 2018Ukraine NOW stickers

  Ukraine · International

  KLEI and Banda developed stickers based on the brand, encouraging people to display and share their own Ukraine NOW messages.

  Outcome. The stickers provided a low-cost physical extension of the national identity for personal and public use.

  Source
• 2018Visa-free-regime augmented-reality activation

  Ukraine · European Union

  Indium Lab developed an augmented-reality application that projected the Ukraine NOW logo onto a biometric passport to mark the anniversary of Ukraine's visa-free travel regime.

  Outcome. The activation connected the brand with mobility, travel, and Ukraine's European integration message.

  Source

• 2018

  Adopt a unified national promotion identityStrategy

  Background

  Perception research identified negative and fragmented foreign views of Ukraine and supported the case for a coordinated national brand.

  Action taken

  The Ukrainian Government approved Ukraine NOW as a common identity for international promotion across tourism, investment, exports, culture, and public diplomacy.

  Aftermath

  The identity became available for use by public institutions, businesses, organizations, and individuals and was applied across multiple media.

  Source

• 2018

  Approve flexible logo architectureOther

  Background

  The project needed to serve different sectors and formats rather than a single tourism advertisement or government department.

  Action taken

  The brand system was built around a transformable logo, a UA-derived icon, and thematic adaptations governed by a brand book.

  Aftermath

  The identity could be used in websites, print, broadcast, outdoor advertising, transport, social media, souvenirs, and interactive projects.

  Source

• 2019

  Ukraine NOW receives Effie recognition[1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The brand received two awards in the Ukrainian edition of the Effie advertising competition.

• 2018

  Ukraine NOW brand approved by the Ukrainian Government[1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Cabinet of Ministers approved the Ukraine NOW identity as an official brand for the international promotion of Ukraine.

• 2018

  Ukraine NOW brand book approved[1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The government approved technical standards governing use of the identity across public and private communications.

• 2018

  Ukraine NOW receives Red Dot Design Award[1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Banda Agency's Ukraine NOW branding received a Red Dot award in an international competition that included thousands of entries from dozens of countries.

• 2018

  Ukraine NOW recognized at Ukrainian marketing awards[1]Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The identity received the Rebranding of the Year distinction and placed second in the Communications Revolution category at the X-Ray Marketing Awards.

1. 1Ukraine NOWen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Ukraine.uaukraine.ua