Moscow Mule’s identity for End of Summer Festival combines typographic rigour and summer vibes

Inspired by the joy of the warmer months, End of Summer Festival was set to be the event of the sunny season in Moscow – a new festival celebrating music, food and local creators. Prior to its cancellation due to COVID-19, Moscow-based design studio Moscow Mule crafted a vibrant identity concocted of pure graphic staples – geometric shapes, contrasting colours and neutral typography – tied together with a bespoke wordmark and an unavoidable appreciation for the sun. The end result of which is a handsome, fun and typographically exacting visual system that has a breeze to its application akin to the summer vibes advertised.

Emblazoned with their punchy bespoke wordmark, Moscow Mule’s Anna Kabanina and Marina Kondratenko explain “the lettering was mainly inspired by the typographic treatment of retro soda cans from the 70-80s,” adding, “we really liked their bold personalities and how unique and expressive they were.” In doing so the lettering captures a warmth, positivity and contentment – a tone expected to be at the festival itself.

Alongside their lettering is Contrast Foundry’s CoFo Sans; a stark but characterful partner that carries the sincerity and timelessness needed to ground the identity. “We aimed to create an identity system that could stay relevant for a while,” Kabanina and Kondratenko add, needing a workhorse typeface to serve the festival’s content. “CoFo Sans was chosen for its perfect mix between functionality and character,” they tell us, putting it simply “it’s a basic yet recognisable grotesk,” concluding “we also wanted to support the work of one of Russia’s coolest independent type foundries.”

Moscow Mule