Description
Problem
Uzbek culture has been lost for the past decades due to unification of nations in the Soviet Union and then globalization. The Uzbek visual code has been confused. When searching for Uzbek ornaments, wrong results appeared, showing Soviet-made, Turkish, Iranian and other patterns. But not Uzbek.
Brands, designers and creators, getting irrelevant results of search engines, misused and misrepresented them as Uzbek patterns.
There is a great demand for national identification in Uzbekistan. Due to changes in the country, Uzbeks strive to revive their cultural heritage. However, not a single digital library of traditional ornaments of Uzbekistan was ever available.
Knowledge of Uzbek traditional ornaments is passed down from generation to generation. Now, craftsmen are the ones keeping this visual language that may cease to exist at any moment along with the aged artisans.
Solution
The first digital bank in Uzbekistan digitized the visual heritage by collecting genuine ornaments of Uzbekistan into a single public database to preserve their originality, categorize and describe their history, meanings and ways of use.
The project team conducted a series of expeditions to the 10 cities of Uzbekistan: visited 8 national museums, 16 cultural centers and applied arts workshops, talked to craftsmen and documented all materials.
As a result, more than 200 ornaments were digitized and uploaded to an open website with descriptions by a doctor of Arts, so other brands and designers could use these ornaments for free in their branding and projects.
The project is ongoing and eventually more than 1,000 ornaments from all regions of Uzbekistan will appear on the website.
Results
Now search engines return genuine Uzbek ornaments.
Over 30 brands and non-profits with a total audience of more than 12 million people (⅓ of the population of Uzbekistan), started using ornaments.
The largest mobile operator designed more than 2 million SIM cards and carried out a national advertising campaign with ornaments. State authorities started to use ornaments to brand local events. Several HoReCa brands designed special packaging. Digital artists created NFTs, fashion creators used ornaments to design their clothing collections. Some ornaments were produced as 3D tactile perception models for use by blind and visually impaired people.
Ornaments were included in Uzbekistan’s secondary education program.
40+ mentions in media
8M+ reach
61M+ total impressions
This professional campaign titled 'In Search of Uzbek Identity' was published in Uzbekistan in September, 2022. It was created for the brand: TBC Uzbekistan, by ad agency: We Digital. This Design and Digital media campaign is related to the Finance industry and contains 2 media assets. It was submitted over 1 year ago.
Credits
Sardor Babaev / Independent creative director / Project curating, PR
Feruzkhan Yakoubhodjaev / We Digital Agency, Partner / Project curating, PR
Binafsha Nodir / Doctor of Arts / Expertise in applied arts
Aziz Tuhtasinov / Crave, Art directior / Website development and ornaments digitization team leading
Camilla Muminova / TBC Bank Uzbekistan, CMO / Project growth, strategic integrations
Aziza Rakhmatova / TBC Bank Uzbekistan, Brand and CSR specialist / Project management, creative partnerships
George Frangishvili / TBC Bank Uzbekistan, Former Creative lead / Project growth
Koka Kamushadze / TBC Bank Uzbekistan, Former Creative lead / Project growth
Nino Egadze / TBC Bank Group, Former Marketing director / Project strategy
Denis Roman / We Digital Agency, Managing partner / Project supervising, creative partnerships
Valeria Lee / We Digital Agency, Project director / Project management
Finat Razyapov / We Digital Agency, Photographer / Creation of photo content of ornaments
Tamila Mamadalieva / We Digital Agency / Project manager, Expeditions administration
Oybek Karimov / We Digital Agency, Art director / Branding supervising, case film narration voice over, case presentation design
Elbek Nurmukhamedov / We Digital Agency, Designer / Design of digital materials
Timofey Vorojcov / We Digital Agency / Designer, Design of digital materials
Denis Eliseev / Independent creative consultant / Case consulting
Andrey Chubko / Xurmo Production, Videographer / Backstage
Tigran Avakov / Crave, Lead Developer / Website development and CMS integration
Zaynab Soyokulova / Crave, Graphic Designer and Content Manager / Ornaments digitalization and content packaging supervising
Veronika Kim / Crave, Graphic Designer / Ornaments digitalization and mockup design
Kamola Izzatulloyeva / Crave, Graphic Designer / Ornaments digitalization and mockup design
Gavkhar Akhmedjanova / Crave, Graphic Designer / Ornaments digitalization and mockup design
Alexandra Berngardt / Crave, Graphic Designer / Ornaments digitalization and mockup design
Olga Kerimova / Crave, Multidisciplinary artist / Creative collaboration, ornaments digitalization and mockup design / Grant project of multidisciplinary artist is part of international laboratory Focus Gravity Hub
Kamron Khisrovdinov / TBC Bank Uzbekistan, Videomaker and photographer / Content editing
Aleksandra Selivanova / We Digital Agency, Creative lead / Creative and copywriting supervising
Malika Obidova / We Digital Agency, Copywriter / Copywriting
David Mathevosyan / We Digital Agency, Motion designer / Social media content creation
Ivan Gorshkov / We Digital Agency, Motion designer, composer / Case film editing and soundtrack
Timur Tugaev / We Digital Agency, Designer / Case digital image design
Samandar Samadov / We Digital Agency, Strategist / Case film voice over
Aziza Muminova / Freelancer / Case copywriting and structure
Malika Baratova / /We Digital Agency, Strategist / Case film voice over and translation
Malika Kambarova / We Digital Agency, Creator / Case film content management
Sojida Ibragimova / Uztelecom, PR manager / Creative collaboration
Dilnoza Rasulova / Uztelecom, Marketing manager / Creative collaboration
Djakhangir Adilov, Uztelecom / Head of Marketing communications department / Creative collaboration
Abdulaziz Khomidjonov / Freelancer, Motion designer, NFT artist / Creative collaboration
Yekaterina Madjidova / Republican Center of Education at the Ministry of People Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan / School textbooks co-author / Creative collaboration
Zamira Rakhmanova / Testo, Co-founder / Creative collaboration
Alina Tsimerman / Chaykof, Founder / Creative collaboration
