Sofia is the city of stories.
Sofia reveals itself wisely, through the side streets, through the places you find by accident or curiosity. Behind each turn you take around the city, something awaits – a story and a history that unfolds once one is eager enough to explore it.
Sofia is reserved, it does not let you in on all its charms at once. It offers its secrets gradually, in fragments – the way that all the greatest stories do.
And like any story, it means something different depending on who’s reading it – the one who grew up there or the one who just arrived there for the first time. Neither is wrong, but both are true.
The task
The creative concept
The name Sofia derives from the Greek σοφία (sophía), meaning wisdom. The branding concept frames Sofia as a city that teaches – every turn you take is an encounter with a different story.
Uniquely, in Bulgarian, the word история (istoriya) carries two meanings – a story and history simultaneously. Sofia is a city of both – the contemporary whispers and the tales of the past, and it is waiting to be explored, seen and appreciated, both by locals and visitors.
By turning a corner into a narrow side street you are exposed to the layers or Ottoman, Soviet, and modern presences that share one thing in common – they each occupy a corner in the city of Sofia.
The visual language should reflect that – a contemporary city that stays true to its heritage, hidden in the details, just like stories hide behind the city’s every turn.
The typography
