Meduza is an independent Russian- and English-language news website founded in 2014 by former staff of the Russian outlet Lenta.ru, including Galina Timchenko. The publication is registered in Latvia, with its editorial office based in Riga, and was created after Timchenko was dismissed from Lenta.ru in March 2014, prompting most of the staff to resign in protest.[1][2]
Design and History
The first Meduza logo featured the Medusa Rondanini, an ancient Roman marble statue of the Greek mythological monster Medusa, known for having snakes for hair.[3] The publication’s name itself was chosen by accident: the person who suggested it meant to reference the Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed monster that grew two new heads when one was cut off, but everyone liked the word “Meduza” so much that it was kept.[3]
The current typographic wordmark was designed by Grisha Kravchenko in 2014, while he worked at the design studio Charmer, which developed the first website design and logo for Meduza.[4] The studio had previously handled redesigns for Lenta.ru and Colta.ru.[1] Kravchenko recalled that the only brief he received from Charmer co-founder Sasha Gladkikh was that the logo “should be angry.”[4] Gladkikh sketched the letter “m” on paper, and Kravchenko built the rest of the wordmark around that form.[4]
In June 2015, Meduza presented an updated version of the logo. The first version had been in use since the site’s launch in October 2014 and had drawn criticism, including accusations of Nazism. The update followed a period of reflection by the team about how to address the criticism.[5] Kravchenko later explained that the change was a minor adjustment: designer Ivan Velichko had suggested that the letter “d” was too dark and could be lightened, and the publication announced the tweak as a rebranding.[4]
In 2021, Kravchenko developed a Cyrillic version of the logo for Meduza’s merchandise store, and the publication temporarily replaced its standard logo with the Cyrillic version for one week in support of the store.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
Meduza’s colors are described by the publication as “black earth and Baltic sand,” reflecting the outlet’s roots in Latvia.[3] The art director suggested moving away from the Medusa Rondanini face and keeping instead the lettering and these preferred colors.[6]
As of 2024, Meduza reported that it tries to use its logo as little as possible, since displaying it could cause problems for readers in Russia, where the organization has been declared undesirable.[3]
Typography and Design
The Meduza wordmark is drawn in a gothic style, though Kravchenko noted that the gothic influence was not intentional at first. The letter “m” sketched by Gladkikh happened to have a gothic form, and the style was later recognized as fitting a tradition used by major international outlets such as The New York Times.[4] Kravchenko described the lettering as deliberately narrow between characters, a technique that makes the wordmark look more solid, though he later called it a “cheap trick.”[4] He also noted that the logo was drawn quickly, over three nights, and contains some inconsistencies that a careful type designer would notice.[4]
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