Saturday, May 10, 2014

What's in a circle?

My team and I at Flat 6 Concepts,  recently completed a case study on the rebranding of the country of Cyprus. The inspiration we had for the design came from the rich history of the island, stretching back thousands of years.
Cyprus is the only country in the world where its capital Nicosia, is still divided in to two parts. Think Berlin not long ago. Turkish Cypriot in the North and Greek Cypriot in the South. The two parts combined make for roughly 42 square miles.  NYC is 468. So a tenth the size of NYC and it's split in roughly half.

It's been like this since 1974.

One of our marks in our new branding was the circle inspired by Cypriot vases and other artifacts dating back to 600BC. Way before Turks, and way before Greeks. They were just Cypriots.

When we unveiled it, a high school friend of mine (whom I have not seen since high school) Roberto Sciffo, remarked the following:

"A circular logo indicates wholeness, which also represents the inclusion/solution to the two sides."

BRILLIANT. Yes! Of course it does!  I love that! Thank you Roberto. You are a much more enlightened man than I.

To all reading, I understand this is just a design - I get it.  But it can mean more. Much more.
I want this mark / circle to be inclusive and representative of all : Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenian Cypriots - everyone. 

Because the inspiration was derived from the sum of all and thus it belongs to all.

You can view the complete study here: www.beautyworthrevisiting.com

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