Ujvári Trafik is a one-of-its-kind shopping mall. It is housed in a century-old farmhouse that once was the local dryer barn for the regionally grown tobacco, so as the primary market to buy and sell tobacco products or accessories for pipes. This heritage is living further again continously since 1983, when Ujvári Trafik has been established as a tobacco shop, that sells also coffee and various types of beverages. The description "shopping-mall" is not a coincidence. While in the main building there is the tobacconist, the other outbuildings function as bakery, ice cream parlour, cafeteria and local mini-market.
Ujvári Trafik is located in Kiskundorozsma, or commonly known as Dorozsma, close to the Southern border of Hungary, a village grown into the region's centre and largest city, Szeged. However this village is an outskirts district of Szeged, it has its own identity, folk culture and artistic heritage.
When we have been contacted to redesign the identity of Ujvári Trafik, we knew that it would be a waste of time and effort to take inspiration from elsewhere other than the rich cultural heritage of the village and the larger region, Szeged. We have studied the folk motifs that are significant in Dorozsma, so as Szeged and have recognised that wood carvings have a strong impact on the way how the rural environment looks like.
To create the basic style, we have reached out to traditional woodworking style called "gombosfa" or "kopjafa" that is a commonly known Hungarian remembrance object. Gombosfa is originally used for headboards, instead of gravestones, where the carved wooden motifs told a story of the person buried. All motif has its own meaning (like number of children, profession, age, social status, etc.) and was used as a replacement of common lettering in the medievals, mostly due to the high level of illiteracy. Since then its field of usage grew larger, their motifs became popular and it lost its burial significance, so as its exclusive usage in cemeteries. The originally "storyteller"protestant and evangelical headboard became a base for local sculptures, revitalising an old craft.
We took this and made a twitch. We reinvented the style as single line drawing and instead of abstract symbolics, we have recreated emblematic elements of traditional craftsmanship into "storytelling icons". There is a whole set of icons created for vinery, beer and other alcoholic beverage brewing, tobacco harvesting, bakery, but we have also created such images for each and every Hungarian Holidays.
The central element of the logo is a stylised tulip which is one of the most commonly pictured flower in Hungarian for culture among poppy, carnation and rose.
We have built a design system for Ujvári Trafik using common elements of abstract woodcarving, such as star motifs to resemble the original visual language of the "gombosfa" style. Also added further supporting element like simple geometrical lineworks and the Sun. The tilted lines represent the occasional rain, that has a high value for this region's agriculture. The Sun has a significant meaning in and around Szeged. The city is called the "City of the Sun", because of the record-high number of sunny days, but for the rural and religious population it was also the representation of the ever present God. The other name of this style is "Isten szöme", the Eye of God, and it is used to decorate the upper front of the houses.
We handled this rich visual heritage with a big care and huge respect, when including it into the created Design System.
Bean, grinder, maker and cup - the stages of consuming coffee represented as single-line artwork
The main colours of the brand are blue, white, beige and brown. Blue represents both the sky and the technique of the blue-painting which was the decoration style of folk clothing for centuries all accross the Carpathian valley. White and Beige are contrast colours that stand for the clouds and the "blond" river, Tisza. Brown as an earthy colour equally symbolises the soil, tobacco and wood.
The interior design and the decor elements also use the developed Design System, which reflects to local traditions of brewing, wine-making, artisanal bakery, slipper tailoring and woodcraft. Local motifs as the "Stone Lamb", the bell tower, the decorated chair, "The Station", the "Old Wooden Windmill"or the Szeged Slippers are all represented here to give the traditional visuals a local patriotic vibe and geographically a unique feature.
SWAG, merchandise, promotional articles featuring the "Dorozsma 300" promotional campaign, in remembrance of the re-establish and repopulation of the village after the end of the Ottoman occupation back in the 16th-18th century.
Various Packaging Designs built on the same Design System based on simplified traditional folk art and motifs. There is a variable level of complexity when working with the system, from combining larger and smaller pieces to adjusting the density of the patterns. Above the examples of how to use it on various branded surfaces.
Regional Homemade-Style Wine: the region is famous of wine that got its characteristics from the local weather and geographical conditions. While most vineyards are on sunny slopes of mid- or low level hills to avoid way-out cold or burning sun, the vines here are cultivated on a flat terrain often exposed to extreme heat or freeze. The soil is also unique: it is powder-like sand, because the original purpose of growing vine in the area was not to harvest fruit, but to stop dust storms and block strong wind. Due to the weather conditions (a lot of sun, often heatwaves, limited amount of rain) there are only sweet and dessert wines available in the region.
Garden Terrace with Patio - the best place to enjoy coffee and ice cream, or homemade waffle and cake. The garden changes over the season: during the Advent and Christmas it functions as a small, local gathering place to drink mulled wine and shop local artisan crafts, while at summer it gives home to one of the best waffle and ice cream parlour of the village.
Announcements with custom icon set dedicated for each Hungarian National Holidays
Storefronts and Outdoor Signage/Advertisements - Bakery and Shop: all storefronts use the same theme when it comes to advertisement, they feature key products, picture the profile with an icon based on the Design System and stay authentic with colours. Black, white and various hues of brown. They all have a dedicated purpose here.
