Skawina municipal identity

In 2019 we were commissioned to design the corporate identity of Skawina – a small town and municipality at the outskirts of Kraków.

The project was supposed to be based on the municipal Coat of Arms, however, its graphic form adopted in 1994 aroused many doubts. Thus, prior to beginning work on the CID project, the proper heraldic analysis of the historic symbol was carried out, based on which it was thoroughly redesigned.

In 2020 the new project of the Coat of Arms, the municipal seal and flag of Skawina was approved by the Heraldic Registry (part of the Ministry of Interior and Administration) and adopted for use by the resolution of the City Council. It became the foundation for the Corporate Identity System.

The main inspiration for depicting Skawina was the historical illustration showing a panorama of Kraków, Kazimierz and Skawina from the 15th century Hartmann Schedel’s Weltchronik, or Chronicle of the World.

A town among the hills depicted there neighbouring the Royal Capital brought us thought, that a good neighbourhood is an important element of Skawina’s identity and that we shouldn’t be afraid of the expression “small town” – as it actually has its many benefits such as peace and quiet, close community and small distances. At the same time, there is good infrastructure, easy access to a big city and a huge potential for development.

Skawina is – in a good way – a common small town. Good neighbours, easy access to everywhere, nice school, reasonable investment. We felt like this project should also be simple, easy to understand and to use. That is why we chose the most common typefaces: Arial and Times New Roman, and the simplest, easy-to-use layouts, illustrations and icons.