The Edit: five projects including Banda’s striking and poignant vanishing campaign for Chornobyl

Each and every day, we're lucky to discover dozens of interesting and inspiring projects from around the world. From global identities and campaigns to side projects and independently published books, The Edit is home to five of them; every two weeks. Whilst the images we associate with Chornobyl’s ‘Exclusion Zones’ are those of dangerous ghost cities, Ukrainian creative agency Banda are here to highlight that these spaces are very much alive. Whether it’s for the scientific research of nature, or testing the work of robots in a radiation environment, these areas serve a meaningful purpose. Together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the State Agency on Exclusion Zone Management, the agency developed a campaign to draw attention to both the disappearing places of memory and the disappearing danger of the radiation, marked by a ‘vanishing logo.’ Starting from the year 1986, the logo – modelled after Chornobyl’s fourth reactor – changes gradually each year and gradually disappears. The endpoint of the logo’s existence is 2064, when Chornobyl Power Plant will be completely decommissioned. The project serves to highlight that, whilst the direct consequences of the disaster will no longer be visible, they still exist. Womena have changed their strategy and business model, from accelerating women-led startups, to a feminist media platform that empowers women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With this came the need for an updated purpose-led identity. Having worked on Womena’s original rebrand, Mohamed Samir returned to collaborate on the new brand strategy and identity that would match their new business model and digital needs. A high-contrast black and white palette ensures that photography and language take centre stage. With an eye-catching new wordmark, paired with a bold typographic direction, the new look communicates the feminine, powerful and story-driven focus of the platform.