Home, at the Origins – an identity-driven cultural project by the La Blouse Roumaine Community
Web design and brand visual identity created by Toud
Who are we? Where do we want to go? What is our wealth? What is our purpose here, on earth?
These questions matter for every human being, for every community, and for every country. In the daily rush in which we lose ourselves, we forget who we are and where we come from as a people. Without this anchor, it becomes difficult to find our place in the world and the path ahead.
We stand on a deep cultural wealth, on layers of values and meanings, and we have a strong connection not only with the land we come from, but especially with the people who lived here and left us an immense cultural heritage.
Home, at the Origins – an identity-restoring cultural project
Home, at the Origins is the most extensive project dedicated to recovering the traditional Romanian folk costume, as it is worn and preserved today in its communities of origin.
The project was initiated by the La Blouse Roumaine community in 2020, when the pandemic prevented people from celebrating Sânziene and the Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse as they used to — meeting in person, celebrating the cultural heritage they share.
More about the project can be found here: acasalaorigini.ro/campanie/
Toud – the branding and design agency from the village, built on cultural heritage
We have collaborated with the La Blouse Roumaine Community for many years, almost since its beginning. For us, it has always been a source of ideas, methods, beliefs, courage, and optimism. Our involvement in this project came naturally.
More than that, we feel our work has greater meaning when, at the end of the year, we can say we contributed to projects that do good and give something back to the community we come from — especially when that community is the Romanian people.
The logo
This movement — Home, at the Origins — needed a logo. Its founder, Andreea Diana Tănăsescu, had a clear direction in mind: a logo built around the rhombus, one of the earliest symbols known to humanity, which later gained new meaning in our culture through Constantin Brâncuși’s Endless Column.
The rhombus is among the oldest symbols in the Romanian cultural space, present since the Neolithic cultures of Vinča–Turdaș, Boian, Gumelnița, and later in the spectacular Cucuteni–Tripolie ceramics. Across all these cultures, the rhombus appears on vessels, figurines, and ritual objects, carrying meanings related to life, fertility, protection, and cosmic order. In Vinča, it symbolized the feminine matrix; in Boian and Gumelnița — the fruitful earth; in Cucuteni — cycles and universal balance.
Brâncuși transforms this ancient archetype into a modern language: the rhomboidal modules of the Endless Column are not mere geometric forms, but a distilled essence of these ancestral symbols. Repeated endlessly, they become an axis between earth and sky, suggesting ascension, purification, and continuity — a contemporary reinterpretation of a sign present in this land for over 7,000 years.
The direction was perfect for symbolizing the purpose of the project. At Toud, we sought to build a minimalist form capable of holding these two rich symbolic layers.
The website – a meeting place
The project relies on photography and rich content meant to document cultural heritage across as many communities as possible. With this material at hand, it was easy to design a website that highlights each community and its specific heritage.
The website is available here: https://acasalaorigini.ro/
The joy of having a team
Years of collaboration with the La Blouse Roumaine Team have shaped a solid working rhythm, which allowed this project to take shape quickly.
Toud contributed the website development, visual identity, and logo design. The project team is extensive, and you can learn more about the magnitude and collective effort involved on the official website: https://acasalaorigini.ro/ https://acasalaorigini.ro/
Instead of a conclusion…
The word “conclusion” doesn’t fit a project like this. We invite you to explore this initiative, discover a fragment of the cultural identity of this people, and contribute to its preservation and continuity.
It is important to understand what Romanian cultural identity represents and how it shapes us. Identity culture is the ensemble of values, traditions, symbols, language, customs, and beliefs that define a nation and give it a distinct identity. It is essential for social cohesion and the sense of belonging, contributing to the formation of national consciousness.
It incorporates cultural heritage (architecture, art, literature, music, folklore), language (as a key means of expression and preservation), traditions and customs passed down through generations, as well as the values and principles that shape collective behaviour.
