The idea came naturally, as Stockholm has a large Ukrainian community that regularly organizes cultural events and initiatives to introduce Ukrainian traditions to Swedish people, and find the grounds for better understanding of each other’s backgrounds and cultures.
This portfolio project presents a mock poster series created for a Ukrainian folk music festival in Stockholm. The board explores two distinct visual directions.
The first poster centers on a stylized female portrait inspired by Ukrainian folk culture. She wears balamuty, a traditional Ukrainian necklace, and a headscarf with flowers, while holding a bandura, one of Ukraine’s most iconic string instruments. The composition is bold, expressive, and rooted in folk identity, celebrating the richness of Ukrainian visual heritage through color and character.
The second poster takes a more atmospheric and spacious approach. It combines an expansive Carpathian mountain landscape with small musician figures dressed in Hutsul clothing, sheep scattered across the hills, and large festival typography arranged in a clean, airy composition. This version focuses more on mood, place, and the poetic connection between music, landscape, and tradition.
Both posters use vivid blue, white, and green tones, with subtle references to Ukrainian cultural symbolism. Together, they explore two ways of expressing the same theme: one through portraiture and ornament, and the other through landscape and atmosphere.
