Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Bahir Dar is a growing city in Ethiopia. It is their largest tourism location and is diverse in culture. We chose this city because I (dom) wanted to challenge wheelchair to take on the terrain of a place we’d never heard of before. To accomplish this, we sought out as much information that the internet could provide on the city and its history.

Challenge

To build a mark that represents the city; the culture, people, and attractions.

Sketching

Experimenting with geometric forms and textures that are seen in the imagery we were able to find through our research. This includes monasteries, tourist photos, and the general history of the city.

Solution

The shapes twisted together represent the cultures intertwining, while the circle symbolizes peace. Together it is a representation of how they still manage to find peace as the city rapidly grows and, in some areas, through poverty.

Typography

An old-style serif type was key to bringing out the long history of the city. We debated on having just the logo represent the deep-rooted history, but a couple of laps later we knew that it would have to be in the type as well so we went with LTC Italian Old Style. Then to support, Neue Kabel was a good fit that didn’t distract from the name of the city, while representing its modernization and rapid growth.

No items found.

Color

The colors were inspired by the city's biggest tourist attraction, the Blue Nile Falls and Blue Nile River. The river and falls are important to the endemic fauna and people that live there. The green is to represent the nature aspect of the environment and tranquility. The gold is seen in the environment as well, but it also represents the wisdom that comes with the city’s history.

No items found.