The Yamal project was initiated to promote traditional northern cuisine and the cultural identity of the region. The products are based on local ingredients — fish, reindeer meat, berries, and herbs — everything that has shaped the diet of the Indigenous peoples of the Far North for centuries. The goal was to create packaging that would reflect the region’s rich ethnographic heritage and identity, while remaining modern, practical, and easily recognizable on the shelf.
Problem
Traditional products of the North are underrepresented in contemporary visual culture. The goal of the project was to develop packaging that would: – convey the region’s unique identity through visual language, – be adaptable across a wide product range, – perform effectively in a retail environment, – evoke respect and interest toward the culture of Indigenous peoples.
Solution
The visual identity is built around the image of linocut — a tactile and expressive artistic technique. The illustrations of products and Indigenous peoples of the North were inspired by the work of Vladimir Lebedev, a Russian artist known for his children’s books and posters depicting Arctic life. Each package features: – vivid, stylized images of fish, meat, or herbs, – a heroic figure of a northern person — as a bearer and guardian of culture, – a flexible modular system that allows the style to be applied across multiple SKUs. For the main SKUs (canned fish), a color-coding system was developed to differentiate between sauces (oil, tomato, aspic), along with a custom illustration for each type of fish. The logo merges the forms of a traditional northern home and a boat into the letterforms. A diamond-shaped pattern based on Indigenous northern ornaments creates the brand’s visual code and unifies the packaging into a cohesive system.
Result
We developed a complete visual language for the brand, including: packaging for the core product line, an illustration system, color navigation, a logo and decorative pattern, a flexible modular system for expanding the range. The result is a visual solution where the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the North seamlessly coexists with contemporary aesthetics — creating a product that doesn’t just sell, but tells a story.
