Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) has unveiled a refreshed visual identity to mark its 30th anniversary, including a redesigned logo, a unified brand architecture, and a new visual language. The refresh was developed by Futura Systems in collaboration with KSE’s marketing and design team.
KSE traces its roots to 1996, when it began as an English-language master’s program in economics. Over the past 30 years, it has grown into a multidisciplinary education and research institution working at the intersection of education, research, entrepreneurship, and technology.
Today, KSE brings together five units: KSE University, KSE Business School, KSE ProfTech, KSE Institute, and KSE Foundation. Each has its own specialization, audience, and expertise. Together, they operate under the KSE brand, share its values, and contribute to its collective impact.
- KSE University teaches students, conducts research, delivers academic projects, and develops new approaches to education.
- KSE Business School develops leaders and entrepreneurs and turns management experience into scalable practice.
- KSE ProfTech trains people for skilled professions and strengthens human capital.
- KSE Institute advances research and produces knowledge and analysis.
- KSE Foundation mobilizes resources and turns them into large-scale initiatives.
The refresh brings KSE’s visual language in line with the scale, ambition, and role the institution has today — and the role it aims to play in the years ahead.
“KSE had outgrown its visual system. Five units were already operating as one ecosystem, yet the connection between them was not always clear. Our task was to make that unity visible and show KSE as an integrated system where education, research, analysis, technology, and resources reinforce one another. Each unit has its own role, with one shared purpose: to strengthen people and institutions, create solutions for Ukraine, and expand Ukraine’s influence,” says Olga Zakharova, CMO of KSE.
At the heart of the refresh is a unified brand architecture. Each of KSE’s five units has its own color and visual communication rules within a shared modular system. The system can flex across faculties, centers, programs, communities, and individual projects while keeping their connection to KSE immediately recognizable.
KSE stands for Kyiv School of Economics. For initiatives spanning several parts of the ecosystem, KSE also uses Knowledge. Strategy. Execution. as an additional reading of the acronym. It captures KSE’s approach to creating impact through knowledge, strategy, and execution.
KSE’s updated mission is: Guided by science and driven by defiance, KSE strengthens people and institutions to protect and advance Ukraine — and through it, the world.
“The world is changing faster than most institutions can keep up with. Knowledge is produced in many places, yet far less often does it make its way into practice: research can stay in journals, and strategies can stay in slide decks. Working effectively in this environment requires knowledge, strategic thinking, and the ability to act quickly. KSE is growing fast and has already expanded far beyond economics. Our engineers develop innovative solutions and work with complex systems, our bioinformaticians study DNA, and our mathematicians earn international recognition for their research. That is why, for me, KSE now means both Kyiv School of Economics and Knowledge. Strategy. Execution. We teach our students — and learn alongside them — to create new knowledge, work with what is already known, develop a strategy for how to use it, and then execute. That is part of our culture,” explains Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of KSE.
Science, technology, entrepreneurship, engineering, management, and institution-building are different expressions of the same ambition. KSE’s new visual identity reflects its intellectual boldness, contemporary character, and capacity for action while remaining grounded in academic tradition.
The visual identity system was built to work equally well across physical and digital environments. It is designed to remain distinctive, flexible, and consistent across formats and to help KSE communicate complex ideas clearly.
“We built a flexible visual identity system that can grow with KSE. It is grounded in simple, functional geometry, a structured color system, supporting graphic elements, and a set of principles that keep the identity coherent across applications. Urban visual culture, architectural forms, and typography were key sources of inspiration,” explains Anton Ekle, Senior Designer at KSE.
The refreshed identity also includes an updated Kepchyk — KSE’s blue lynx and the mascot of its student community and sports team.
The refreshed visual identity and official brand assets are available on the brand page of KSE’s redesigned website.
About KSE
Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) is a leading multidisciplinary education and research institution that combines academic excellence, entrepreneurial thinking, science, and technology to develop solutions for society, business, and government.
The KSE ecosystem comprises five key units: KSE University, offering international bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD programs; KSE Graduate Business School, offering MBA and eMBA programs, corporate learning, and short professional courses; KSE ProfTech, which trains specialists in applied and technical fields; KSE Institute, a think tank conducting research on economics, public policy, and business; and KSE Foundation, which mobilizes resources for KSE’s institutional development and delivers nationwide education, humanitarian, and defense initiatives.
