Visual style of the investigation "Russian mephedrone plague" by "Lenta.ru"

I was responsible for developing and implementing the visual style of this project. I contributed as a photographer, art director, and graphic designer.

The investigation project “The Russian Mephedrone Plague” consists of a landing page, eight longreads, and additional content on social media.

The social project by Lenta.ru (part of the Rambler&Co media holding), “The Russian Mephedrone Plague,” received the Grand Prix at the Apostol Awards for media and brand media, and won Gold in the “Media” category for best design and publication layout.
https://apostol.media/winners/

Lenta.ru also became a Runet Prize 2024 laureate for the project “The Russian Mephedrone Plague” in the “Mass Media and Communications” category.
https://premiaruneta.ru/news/obyavleny-laureaty-premii-runeta-2024

Project team:

Executive Producer: Vladimir Todorov

Project Lead: Svetlana Povoraznyuk

Art Director: Yulia Vorobyeva

Photography: Yulia Vorobyeva

Graphic Design: Yulia Vorobyeva, Maria Mitina, Eduard Chetverik

Development and Animation: Natalia Gabitova, Anton Kiyan, Nikita Grechishnikov

Viscom by Rambler&Co: Nikolay Chernov, Viktor Kirillov

Music and Sound Design: Forevert

Lenta.ru released an in-depth investigation titled “The Russian Mephedrone Plague,” focusing on how one of the most dangerous drugs is affecting people’s lives and the country’s future. Five years after publishing the investigation “Russia on Drugs,” the authors revisited the topic of illegal substances and the evolution of the darknet, which has undergone radical changes in recent years, leading to the widespread distribution of mephedrone.

The project illustrates how the country has essentially become a testing ground for a new drug that is largely unstudied by modern science. It also reveals how millions of Russians are involved in this deadly experiment.

Over the past year, Lenta.ru journalists spoke with mephedrone users, stashers (drug couriers), clandestine chemists, sellers, and darknet drug shop owners. As a result, they were able to explain how the multibillion-ruble mephedrone market operates, who controls it, and how a global ecosystem has formed around this drug—an ecosystem that traps everyone who enters it.

Task

To develop and implement the visual design for the large-scale investigation "Russian Mephedrone Plague," which explores how the most dangerous drug affects people's lives and the future of the country. The visual design should help the reader immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the material, making them a viewer as well.

Development

To implement the visual design, a photo series was developed. The textual material of the investigation served as a basis for developing the plot, characters, location selection, and aesthetics. A moodboard with examples was created for initial visualization.

The aesthetic of amateur photography was chosen to create a lively and authentic atmosphere. This style allows for conveying a sense of spontaneity and naturalness, making the images more relatable and emotionally rich.

Amateur photography conveys a sense of reality, as if the frames were captured in the moment, without preparation or staging. This creates an effect of speed and suddenness, perfectly capturing the dynamics and emotions.

Intentionally, errors and imperfections characteristic of amateur photography were used as artistic means:• Harsh flash lighting and "flat light"• Overexposure and underexposure• Tilted horizon and "incorrect" composition• Motion blur• Out-of-focus shots

Location scouting was conducted. The shoots were divided into two parts. The first part is the story of drug dealers and buyers. A city route with numerous colorful locations was chosen — industrial zone, garages, various fences, bridges, heating pipes, high-rise buildings, courtyards, entrances. The activities of drug dealers and those searching for stashes are visualized.

The second part is the story of drug consumers. A city route in the city center with bars, clubs, streets between them, and back alleys was chosen. The story from euphoria to depression is visualized, showing the life of drug consumers in nightclubs and back alleys.

A set of shots to be taken was planned, with improvisation also present.

For the color design of the project, cold undertones of colors were chosen. The leading colors of the visual are saturated shades of magenta, purple, and blue, which create a neon glow effect.

Neon colors are often associated with artificial lighting, such as neon signs. These colors give a sense of тревожной energy and refer to the aesthetics of urban nightlife and drug-induced euphoria.

During the motion design stage, an effect of image fading to black and white was added, symbolizing the transition from euphoria to depression.

Textures were applied to the images, creating an effect of wear and tear, which helps convey a sense of distress.

The visual narrative was supplemented with informative graphic elements characteristic of the world of drug dealers and consumers: chewed gum, ziplock bags, duct tape, red outlines marking the stash location, banknotes, scales, stash, substances, stencil inscriptions, and other attributes.

For text elements, two fonts were chosen: a stencil font for accent text - Capture it. Additional neutral font - Rambler. Font colors: #3affc7 hex color - Accent color, corresponds to a bright, cool neon blue-green shade. #ffffff hex color - White.