Communication Strategy for KRIM
Communication design is a multidisciplinary field that can apply communication theory and sociological frameworks to create structured, meaningful, and goal-oriented visual messages. Its purpose is not limited to aesthetics, but lies in shaping how information is perceived, interpreted, and emotionally processed by an audience within a specific social and cultural context.
Communication theory provides designers with tools to understand how messages are constructed, transmitted, and decoded. In communication design, this knowledge allows designers to make informed decisions about visual hierarchy, narrative structure, tone, and media choice in order to influence attention, understanding, and persuasion.
One of the key models relevant to communication design is the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). It explains that audiences process messages either through a central route, based on logic and structured information, or through a peripheral route, guided by visual cues, tone, and overall atmosphere [2]. In design practice, this means adapting visual hierarchy, content depth, and layout to the audience’s level of attention and involvement.
Another important framework is the Narrative Paradigm, which views communication as storytelling. According to this approach, people evaluate messages based on coherence and relevance rather than pure facts [4]. In communication design, narrative logic helps organize information into meaningful sequences, allowing users to perceive content as connected and intentional rather than fragmented.
Communication design is also closely linked to semiotics, which understands communication as the production of meaning through systems of signs [1]. Typography, color, composition, and visual style function as non-verbal signs that carry cultural and emotional meaning. Designers rely on shared visual codes to ensure that messages are decoded as intended, especially in digital environments where visual rhetoric plays a central role.
Audience and context are essential factors in effective communication design. Sociological approaches emphasize that meaning is shaped by cultural norms, expectations, and usage situations. Designers must therefore adjust communication strategies depending on who the message is for and in what context it is received, balancing information, persuasion, and emotional tone.
Together, these theories show that communication design is a strategic tool that structures attention, guides interpretation, and builds relationships between a digital product and its audience.
These theoretical principles form the foundation for how communication design is applied in practice. In this project, they are used to structure the presentation of the brand KRIM — both for a general audience and for a professional audience.
The following section demonstrates how communication theory informs the way the brand is introduced, explained, and positioned: how its purpose is communicated and how meaning is constructed through visual and narrative choices.
What is KRIM?
KRIM is a curated digital media platform for people who love detective stories, thrillers, and crime fiction as cultural narratives.We cut through the noise of endless streaming lists and bookstore shelves. KRIM provides expertly curated selections across all media—from seminal films and must-read books to immersive games and engaging podcasts—ensuring you always find your next thrilling story.
The platform does not focus on real crimes or news events. Instead, KRIM explores how detective and crime stories are created, told, and experienced across different media. It helps users navigate this vast amount of information with clarity and curiosity.
Book cover for KRIM
The Context and the Problem
Detective and crime content is one of the most popular genres today, but it is often scattered across platforms and presented in a sensational, overwhelming way. Users are faced with endless lists, aggressive headlines and fragmented recommendations in which shock trumps understanding.As a result, discovering new stories becomes tiring rather than engaging. There is a lack of thoughtful structure, cultural context, and emotional balance — especially for users who want intelligent entertainment rather than constant tension.
Difference from competitors
KRIM’s Approach
KRIM offers a different way to explore detective and crime stories. The platform is built around curation rather than overload, and guidance rather than noise.Content is carefully selected and organized to help users quickly find what truly matches their interests. Through clear navigation and filtering, KRIM turns discovery into a calm and enjoyable process. The focus is not on consuming as much content as possible, but on understanding the stories, their details and the underlying motives of the characters.
Films section on the KRIM website
Content and Features
KRIM combines several formats into one consistent system. Users can study films, series, books, podcasts and games through selection and editorial reviews. Each piece of content is placed in a broader cultural and narrative context.Interactive tests help users better understand both the content and themselves — their tastes, moods, and preferred types of stories.
Tests section on the KRIM website
One of KRIM’s key characteristics is its atmosphere. Despite the dark or mysterious themes, the platform allows the user to feel safe. Light irony, calm tone of voice and thoughtful design reduce anxiety and make the study of complicated stories comfortable.
KRIM Communication
KRIM treats mystery as a form of intellectual play rather than fear. It invites users to observe, analyze, and reflect — without pressure or emotional overload.
Outdoor advertising
KRIM is designed not only as a content platform, but also as a space for connection. A smaller, engaged community allows users to participate in shaping recommendations, discussions, and thematic selections. This sense of belonging turns passive consumption into shared exploration. Users become part of a collective curiosity about stories, patterns, and human behavior.
KRIM Telegram channel
To understand what KRIM stands for, it is essential to look at the values that guide the platform. These core principles shape not only the content and community experience but also how the brand communicates, engages, and builds trust with its audience.
Brand values
The semiotic theory of communication is based on the transmission of meaning through systems of signs [1]. In communication design, both verbal and non-verbal signs work together to shape perception and emotional response. One of the key verbal signs of any brand is its logo, as it forms the foundation of brand recognition and meaning-making.
The name KRIM is an abbreviation of the word «criminal», directly referencing the thematic focus of the platform. The logo exists in several visual variations, reinforcing the brand’s flexible and interpretive nature. Its form is based on the metaphor of a drop falling onto text, causing it to blur and spread. This visual effect evokes the image of «KRIM» dissolving into a dark, gloomy alley, reinforcing associations with mystery, uncertainty, and investigation.
Logo variations
The color palette functions as a non-verbal sign system that deepens the brand narrative. Beige references the paper of a detective’s notes, suggesting analysis and reflection. Dark gray evokes wet asphalt, while muted gray represents twilight and the approach of night. Bright orange acts as an accent color, reminiscent of a street lamp cutting through darkness.Together, these colors construct a cohesive atmospheric code that supports the genre while remaining emotionally balanced rather than aggressive.
Brand colors
To extend this metaphor and enhance immersion, the brand uses custom illustrations that imitate a detective’s sketches. This visual approach bridges the digital and physical worlds, as hand-drawn notes and small sketches are familiar tools of personal thinking and investigation. The use of beige further reinforces associations with paper, strengthening the illusion of real investigative work.
Through these visual cues, users interpret symbols subjectively, forming their own emotional responses, associations, and hypotheses. As a result, the user is not just observing the service but feels positioned inside its narrative space.
Illustrations
The interface predominantly employs sharp-edged shapes, reflecting the brand’s core semantics: precision, professionalism, and analytical clarity. This choice also supports the overall metaphor of investigation and control. Rounded shapes, while typically associated with comfort and softness, would contradict the conceptual framework of a platform dedicated to crime and detective narratives.
Another important link between the digital and physical worlds is the book metaphor. Pages follow a vertical format similar to book covers, reducing perceptual dissonance for the user. The presence of a quotation section emphasizes thoughtful engagement with source material, demonstrating analytical depth rather than superficial retelling. Such details contribute to trust, loyalty, and increased receptivity to the brand.
Film page
Different content formats are supported by distinct but coherent visual codes. For example, the podcast catalog uses humanized illustrations, reflecting the fact that podcasts are built around monologues and dialogues of real people. This association is immediately readable and aligns form with content.
Podcasts page
Outside the website, KRIM communicates with its audience primarily through its Telegram channel. Visual layouts consistently use the brand’s color palette, corporate typography, logo, and minimalist illustrations. This unified visual identity strengthens recognition and differentiation.
A consistent visual language across both digital and physical media helps users immediately identify KRIM’s content within a crowded information environment. The brand is not confused with other authors or platforms, as it maintains a stable and recognizable semiotic system.
Social media posts
The strategy for KRIM’s brand presentation was built on integration of several communication theories to ensure that the platform’s purpose and value were effectively conveyed to both general and professional audiences. This approach provided a structured method for brand storytelling and audience engagement, connecting theoretical insights directly to practical design decisions.
Print media
The strategy relied primarily on four frameworks from communication theory: the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the Narrative Paradigm, the Uses and Gratifications Theory (U& G), and Semiotic Theory. These frameworks were chosen for their relevance to communication design and their ability to guide persuasive and audience-centered communication.
Brand assets
ELM provides a model for understanding how audiences process persuasive messages and make judgments about content [3]. For KRIM, this means recognizing that many users engage with media through mental shortcuts rather than deep cognitive processing. The platform leverages peripheral cues to guide perception and influence attitudes subtly, without demanding extensive effort from users. Authority is emphasized through expert curation and professional selection of content, establishing credibility even if users do not scrutinize the curators’ qualifications. Aesthetic appeal is conveyed through visual elements that reflect the detective and crime culture, while consistent tone and design reinforce familiarity and reliability. These peripheral cues ensure that the brand communicates competence, quality, and approachability effectively. In this way, ELM informs not only marketing messages but the broader communication style of the brand, from visual design to narrative framing.
Test cards
The Narrative Paradigm underscores the centrality of storytelling in human cognition [4]. KRIM’s focus on detective, thriller, and crime narratives makes this framework particularly relevant. Brand communication is structured to ensure narrative coherence and fidelity: content is logically organized across films, books, games, and podcasts, and presented in a way that resonates with universal audience values such as curiosity, justice, and intellectual engagement. By framing the platform around coherent and meaningful narratives, KRIM delivers experiences that feel trustworthy, satisfying, and emotionally resonant.
Billboard
U& G theory emphasizes the active role of audiences in media consumption [5]. KRIM applies this approach by identifying and addressing four primary motivations of its users: diversion and entertainment, satisfying curiosity and information needs, personal identity formation through alignment with a subculture of crime enthusiasts, and fostering social relationships through community interaction. Communication is therefore designed not only to convey content but to meet the practical and emotional needs of users, making their engagement with the platform purposeful and rewarding.
Games section on the KRIM website
Semiotic Theory highlights the transmission of meaning through verbal and non-verbal signs [1]. In KRIM, the logo serves as a key verbal sign, forming the foundation of brand recognition and identity. Visual design elements—including color palette, typography, and illustration style—function as non-verbal signs that evoke associations with detective and crime culture. Together, these signs shape users’ perception, guide emotional responses, and reinforce the brand’s thematic coherence. For example, muted, paper-like beige evokes detective notes, while dark gray and bright orange suggest city streets and streetlamps, immersing users in a metaphorical environment of mystery and intrigue.
Podcast page
The combination of these theories informs KRIM’s practical communication decisions. ELM ensures that the brand appears credible and engaging through subtle peripheral cues, while the Narrative Paradigm provides a logical and emotionally resonant structure to storytelling. U& G shapes content and community design to meet user motivations, and Semiotic Theory guides visual and symbolic elements to create a cohesive, immersive brand world. Together, these frameworks allow KRIM to communicate its purpose clearly, cultivate trust and loyalty, and deliver a distinctive, intellectually engaging, and emotionally balanced experience for audiences.
Communication Theory: Bridging Academia and Practice [Lecture materials]. Moscow: HSE Art and Design School.
Elaboration Likelihood Model Theory: How to use ELM. (2015). IxDF — Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/elaboration-likelihood-model-elm
Kitchen, P. J., Kerr, G., Schultz, D. E., McColl, R., & Pals, H. (2014). The elaboration likelihood model: Review, critique and research agenda. European Journal of Marketing, 48(11–12), 2033–2050. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-12-2011-0776
Dewey, J. (2021). Narrative paradigm. Research Starters. EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com
Uses and gratifications theory. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_and_gratifications_theory
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Book cover for KRIM [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Difference from competitors [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Films section on the KRIM website [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Tests section on the KRIM website [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). KRIM communication [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Outdoor advertising [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). KRIM Telegram channel [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
KRIM Brand Values. (2025). Visual representation of brand values [Digital image]. Created by project team.
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Logo variations [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Brand colors [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Illustrations [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Film page [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Podcasts page [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Social media posts [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Print media [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Brand assets [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Test cards [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Billboard [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Games section on the KRIM website [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
Архипова, Ю., Мамкина, С., & Темчур, Б. (2025). Podcast page [Digital image]. HSE Art and Design School Portfolio. https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/219749
