POV Budapest’s identity is a love letter to the city’s visual heritage

What does it take to not only establish and manage the debut chapter of a design conference but also shape its identity? For starters, running a studio while maintaining a passion and curiosity about all aspects of one’s city is ideal. Meeting both criteria, with practices based in the Hungarian capital, design studio “with a product mindset” CM.SUPPLY, along with strategy-driven digital studio COMET, not only launched the POV Budapest conference but also crafted the event’s visual identity and website, drawing inspiration from the city’s visual culture. The project, which debuted at POV Budapest’s first event in 2024, welcoming 700 attendees from over 50 countries, eschews traditional research methodologies in favour of a more intuitive approach. As Mátyás Czél, Founder & Creative Director at CM.SUPPLY explains, “When you’re immersed in a place, when you’re genuinely curious, everything around you becomes part of the process...I’ve been to places where their identity feels almost pre-packaged, neatly defined. Budapest isn’t like that. It’s noisy, layered, contradictory.” It’s a visually eclectic city where, he continues, you’ll find “Secessionist facades next to prefab blocks, naive mascots beside strict modernist lettering and old shop signs clashing with contemporary design.” The event provided an opportunity to showcase these idiosyncrasies, sharing what makes the city great with the world. Much like the entire conference, the branding, too, was born of a deep collaboration between the two studios. While CM.SUPPLY led creative direction and motion design, COMET handled the digital infrastructure. “That said, there were plenty of moments where the lines blurred, and we shaped the identity together in a more hands-on, shared way. It never felt like a strict division of roles,” says Czél.