BBDO Branding, URSA Bank’s re-branding partner, won in the ADCR Awards 2007 in the Graphic Design/Corporate Style & Re-Branding category. The assessing panel was to evaluate the bank’s logo, corporate style, printed materials and advertising leaflets.

‘It’s been a pleasure working with a client who you feel aspires to be a leader in both banking and design sector. On the one hand, the task was quite easy: two banks merging to become URSA Bank (a name suggested by Thomas Gad); the company’s new name implies certain allusions to the famous constellation (Ursa Major, or the Great Bear). On the other hand, we wanted to come up with something quite unique, so we decided to include bears, coins, and stars in the new bank’s logo. Our ‘bear’s paw’ consists of seven stars of varying complexity, symbolizing the variety of the bank’s approaches to customers ranging from the simple friendly and loyal customer service to complex technologies and innovations URSA Bank is well-known for. One good thing about modern branding is that you cannot create something unambiguous; there is always more than one way to read a logo; ours is loaded with meaning: some people will see a paw, others will notice the stars, and someone will probably see the paw, the stars, and the coins. The spelling of the name, too, is quite rich in implications in both English and Russian, and the use of the fonts is symmetrical in both languages (the one chosen for the word ‘URSA’ is somewhat ‘pigeon-toed’, it reminds one of a bear’s clumsiness, and it is juxtaposed with the solemn and stable Antiqua font chosen for the word ‘bank’,’ BBDO Branding Creative Director and author of URSA Bank’s logo Vladislav Ermolaev observed.

‘The logo is present in all the elements of the company’s style, including the ornament used in printed materials and advertising booklets. Speaking of these booklets, what we wanted was a very different image, far from the conventional happy young couples and children. When you use these way-too-familiar associations, you cannot tell one company’s leaflet from the other if one cannot see their logo. Now, URSA Bank is totally different. Its novelty lies in that it does not focus on the finance and formalities and is keeping up with the times and its developmental strategy,’ Mr. Ermolaev explained.