Technorenaissance
Visual Identity | Apparel Design | UX/UI
The first merchandise drop for the IT company Technokratos, dedicated to the Renaissance era
store.technokratos.com
The first merchandise drop for the IT company Technokratos, dedicated to the Renaissance era
store.technokratos.com
The company Technokratos, for which the merchandise was developed, bases its mission and philosophy on ancient thought and ideals. However, during the rebranding process, references to Ancient Greece were replaced with slightly less direct and obvious allusions, oriented towards modernity while still maintaining a foundation rooted in ancient values.
Therefore, it was decided that the merchandise collections for the company’s employees would also be based on later, yet still preceding modern eras. The first of three parts of the collection begins with the Renaissance, a period that gave rise to humanism, a fascination with progress, and a renewed interest in the ideas of ancient philosophers. In fact, the “Renaissance” represents the revival of Antiquity, as a tradition towards which all eyes have turned once again.
The concept of the first merchandise drop was presented at the Kazan city open meetup for designers, Techno Meets Design 2022, where speakers included the art directors of MTS and Raiffeisen Bank, as well as a producer from Skillbox.
To connect the merchandise collection with the new image of the company, we decided to consider who could be regarded as the technocrats of the Renaissance era, long before the emergence of the technocratic movement in the early 20th century. These are the inventors, scientists, engineers, and explorers — visionaries of their time who laid the groundwork for modern culture and science.
The first hoodie, in brown, is dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci, inspired by his artistic technique of “sfumato,” which features soft transitions from areas of light to deep brown shadows. Additionally, Da Vinci was one of the most renowned Renaissance humanists, promoting ideas that shaped the way we think today. Therefore, the print on the chest of the hoodie aligns with his perspectives.
Photo
Mari Frolova
The print on the back of the hoodie features sketches of an artificial wing from his notebooks: Da Vinci was fascinated by the ideas of human flight and is known for the famous phrase, “Movement is the essence of life.”
The second hoodie, in a sandy hue reminiscent of the faded paper of old geographical maps, is dedicated to Magellan — one of the most famous Spaniards of the Age of Exploration. Therefore, the chest of the hoodie features a print of Kepler’s map, which served as a reference for astronomers and navigators of that time.
On the back of the hoodie is an image of the ship “Victoria,” on which Magellan completed the first circumnavigation of the globe, initiating the process of globalization that connected all continents through trade routes long before the advent of modern ocean freight.
The next great figure of the Renaissance in our collection is Gutenberg, the inventor of the first printing press with movable type, which was a true breakthrough compared to handwritten books and accelerated the onset of the printing era and, as a result, the age of mass media. He was an inventor who essentially created the Internet of his time, enabling the free exchange of ideas from person to person.
This is why his merchandise is based on the principles of typography from that era. The back features an illustration from the book “On Divine Proportions” (by a good friend of Leonardo, for whom Da Vinci created illustrations). On the front, against the backdrop of a book grid (the so-called “Gutenberg Canon”), there is a piece of text with an initial letter from the Gutenberg Bible, along with the first principle of a technocrat from the company’s website in Latin, rendered in a textura font resembling the Gothic script used to print the Bible.
And the last of the quartet (but not the least in importance) is Galileo, the physicist and astronomer who laid the foundation for classical mechanics and had a tremendous impact on modern science as a whole. He was the inventor of the first telescope, which allowed for the confirmation of the heliocentric model of the universe, bringing about a true revolution in science.
Therefore, the t-shirt features prints of one of the earliest diagrams placing the Sun at the center, along with the phrase attributed to Galileo, “And yet it moves,” as well as a calligraphic inscription referencing the fact that Galileo was a staunch rationalist.
In addition to the colored models, we decided to add black versions, playing on classic corporate t-shirts and hoodies with the company logo, transforming them into a canvas for a tattoo artist. Here, we incorporated the Technokratos brand, blending elements, fonts, and imagery from the entire collection to capture a cohesive visual essence of the era.
For example, in the hoodie, we used the textura font from the Gutenberg Bible for two variations of the company’s name. The background features an illustration by Leonardo from the book on divine proportions. The circular logo was designed based on a heraldic cross and the Wind rose from the cartography of that time.
The t-shirt is slightly more concise than the hoodie, with more compact elements: on the front, instead of a large print, there is only one element — a round calligraphic composition featuring the company’s name. On the back, the website address is encoded in binary code and rendered in a Gothic script.
In the case of the accessories, we wanted them to incorporate elements from both clothing sets and to complement each of them. Therefore, all the accessories feature familiar elements but in new combinations.
For example, there is a waist bag featuring Galileo’s autograph, or a cap with a letter from the Gutenberg Bible font along with the founding years of the company and the merchandise release. A shopper bag showcases the map from Magellan’s hoodie with the phrase “Expand your horizons” in Latin. Additionally, there are stamped badges made of black nickel featuring individual elements from all the previous prints. Together, all of this creates a collection infused with rhyming elements from the Renaissance era and the spirit of Technokratos, as we have interpreted it.
For this collection, we commissioned the development of custom patterns for the entire size range of oversized hoodies and t-shirts at a local atelier. We personally selected the fabrics from a wholesale supplier, and the sewing was entrusted to a specialized workshop. Thus fully encompassing the entire process of creating the merchandise — from the conceptual development stage to the final logistics and presentation to the team.
“The outstanding results of the work on creating the two drops of Technokratia’s corporate merchandise increased the company’s visibility and also helped secure the ‘HR Brand of the Year 2023’ award from Ruwards Award.”
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