Poznan’s recently unveiled new logo, which was intended to symbolise the city’s modern and friendly identity, is likely to disappear from official materials soon. In mid-May, the city of Poznań presented its new visual identity with the slogan ‘You are at home’. The logo, inspired by the city’s coat of arms, was intended to emphasise values such as compactness, friendliness, pride and freedom. The creators explained that the letter ‘P’ in the logo refers to the characters Peter and Paul from the coat of arms and, when turned, resembles an open house, intended to reflect the friendly nature of the city.
The change in visual identity was motivated by the fact that the previous strategy, known as POZnan*, was now 15 years old and needed refreshing. The new logo was to become a ‘decoration’ of the city, symbolising its beauty and modernity. Despite the ambitious plans, the logo was quickly met with a huge wave of criticism. Although the city initially promoted it through interviews and events, the idea began to be withdrawn in June. The city authorities began to refer to the new logo as a ‘proposal’ that was only meant to open up discussion about rebranding.
The old and new logos. Photo: poznan.pl
Shortly afterwards, the city’s brand representative, who presented the logo at the Impact conference with Mayor Jacek Jaskowiak, lost his job. However, the authorities do not suggest linking this fact to the gigantic criticism of the already notorious identity with the upside-down ‘P’. At the beginning of August, the logo disappeared from the city’s official social media, and its place was taken by the traditional coat of arms of Poznań. A representative of the Mayor’s Office explained that the return of the coat of arms was related to the promotion of an exhibition on its history. He also admitted that the logo still in force is POZnan*.
The markapoznan.pl website, which explained the whole new strategy, has already been deactivated and, according to Gazeta Wyborcza, the logo will soon be removed from the city’s official website. The controversy surrounding the new visual identity led the Audit Committee of the Poznan City Council to look into the expenditure of several tens of thousands of zlotys on the creation of the new strategy.
Source: epoznan.pl, wirtualnemedia.pl
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