To select a new graphic symbol of Florence, an international competition of ideas was announced by the city commune. But out of the 5000 proposals, only one won
"When the jury called me and said that my layout was whitewashed, I decided it was a carnival joke," said Fabio Chiantini, a 62-year-old Florentine, 40 of whom he is engaged in graphics. Fabio won the Firenze City Brand competition organized by the Palazzo Vecchio (sponsored by Audi) to find a logo that could represent the city around the world. The competition was announced back in July 2013, and the results were announced yesterday, March 10, during a special conference in the Palazzo Vecchio. The finalists were selected by a jury consisting of specialists in this field, university teachers and journalists.
Almost sudoku
In the new brand, nothing resembles the classic symbols of Florence - Lily, David or the dome of the Duomo.
Rather, it looks like sudoku or a kind of charade in which the name "Florence" is repeated in Latin letters in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish.
The individual letters in these four words are highlighted in such a way that they make up the Italian version of the name of the city - Firenze. Thus, the logo represents Florence as a city of various peoples, but at the same time reflects its uniqueness. The logo colors are white and red, but there is also a black version. It's funny that because of the play of letters and words in the image, Renzi is easily readable - the name of the new Prime Minister of Italy.
Over 5000 projects
The competition was attended by more than 5000 proposals from 2451 participants. The international competition has interested creative people even from the islands of Tonga, Iceland and Hong Kong (not to mention Europe, the USA or Africa). Although of course the vast majority of the layouts were sent by Italians (4865). Thirty of the best works will be posted on the official album, and the winner, Fabio Chiantini, will receive as a reward 15 thousand euros. The new logo will be used to promote Florence both in Italy and abroad: for cultural and tourist interaction, as well as for commercial purposes.
Online community against
As soon as the image of the new logo spread across the web, the Florentines went berserk. Some say that it is absolutely unoriginal, others claim that it was copied from the Prague brand. Someone even specially created a page on Facebook to express their protest to the new symbol of the city.
