The competition among cities and territories increases globally and is mainly manifested in the increasing necessity to clearly define the identificational features and positioning of cities and territories with the objective of constructing a territorial brand able to attain greater visibility, to increase the capacity for attraction and to improve the perceived image through a plurality of planning and communication actions. Analysis of the perception of Bologna’s image at a local, national and international level was in fact the first phase of the process of construction of the identity of the city. This phase developed through different types of researches. A research with a questionnaire to a sample constituted by visitors to Bologna in the last ten years. A second research summed up the results of preceding researches on the perception of Bologna by residents. A third investigation used the knowledge mining technology to make a Grammatical, Logical, Semantic and Sentiment analysis of the 20,000 or so posts on the web containing the word “Bologna.” This analysis made it possible to identify how this perception influenced the reputation of the city of Bologna on the Web. seven focus . Caroamicotiinvito: an online contest The indications deriving from these researches were taken as a guide for addressing the subsequent repositioning of the city enacted in the second phase of the process of city branding. The transition to the second phase was characterized by the identification of the logo and the identificational concept of the Bologna brand on the basis of the results of the research in the first phase, summed up in the briefing that orientated the International Contest for the logo and payoff of the city of Bologna In the briefing there emerged the indication of the city as a “real city” with a contemporary, vital and experimental image, not a historicized and museum one but one in which the visitor does not feel treated like a tourist, and instead is put in a condition to have a personal experience not enclosed in forced pathways, but inspired by his or her curiosity to discover this “hidden jewel” through open expressive codes that can be customized. The desire is expressed to identify a logo and concept able to arouse in people curiosity and the desire to come to Bologna because this is an open, innovative and welcoming city in which it is possible to have experiences and authentic emotions according to one’s own inspirations. The graphic project that won among the 504 proposals from various countries was done by Matteo Bartoli and Michele Pastore. Bartoli and Pastore designed a system of writing replacing the graphemes of the Latin alphabet, of abstract characterising signs. There was thus designed a new alphabet of geometric signs, based on five signs to be found in the tangible historical memories of the city of Bologna. The first generative logo!!!

1. City branding:
from theory to practice
Case histories of cities succeeding
in creating a new logo:
Bologna
Eurocities Working Group on City Branding and Attractiveness
Genova
10–11 April 2014
Bologna City Branding
Roberto Grandi

2. 1
A briefing for the city brand

3. 1–Identification of the most significant features
of the identity of the city of Bologna
2–Definition of the repositioning of the city
3–Identification of narrative structures to tell
the new positioning of the city
A briefing for the city brand
The aims of the project
Bologna City Branding 3/80

4. A briefing for the city brand
The BCBP devoted the first five months to extensive research aimed at analysing perception
of the current international (national) brand image of Bologna and at identifying the traits that
characterise its desired identity.
The international (national) image of Bologna was analysed by:
1–Giving a questionnaire to a sample of foreign/italian citizens who have visited and or stayed
in Bologna in recent years (questionnaires completed 405, of which 250 in English and 155
in Italian) (October 2012 – February 2013)
2–Recovering data resulting from research carried out previously on the perception by
residents
3–“Reputational”/”Sentiment” analysis of the presence of Bologna on the net, which
examined 20.000 texts (during the period December 2012 – February 2013): posts and
comments made available on the internet (forums, blogs, social networks, etc.).
The International and National Perception
of the Image of the city of Bologna
Bologna City Branding 4/80

5. The desired identity (Aspirational brand identity) via:
1–Seven Focus Groups, which saw the participation of around
90 significant witnesses from the city, representing the
economical, cultural, social and institutional world.
(January and February 2013)
2–#Caroamicotiinvito – an online contest to gather stories
about the city in the words and pictures of its citizens.
(March 2013)
3–The results of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan.
The desired identity
A briefing for the city brandBologna City Branding 5/80

6. We want to guide the visitor to discover Bologna in the most natural and instinctive
way possible. Regardless of his inclinations and cultural interests, he/she must be given
the opportunity to be his/her own guide.
We want to suggest random immersion, not a prearranged itinerary, and not even
a priority choice. We do not want to be the ones to tell him/her what is important for us;
we want him to discover the details that are of interest to him/her. We do not want
to tell him/her about Bologna, but rather it must be he who offers us his/her personal story.
We can offer a city with a contemporary, vital, experimental image, not just history
and museums.
A briefing for the city brand
A briefing for the city brand 6/80Bologna City Branding

7. The invitation to wander and lose oneself in Bologna, a city where both human and sensorial
relationships are inseparable. Walking through Bologna’s porticoes is the experiential key that
we can offer the visitor: a unique and multifaceted perspective of the past and the present.
We want people from all over the world to be tempted to come to Bologna because this is an
open city, innovative and welcoming, where you can enjoy authentic experiences and emotions
in keeping with your own inspirations.
Bologna as an open code which give to everybody the possibility to write his/her own history.
A briefing for the city brand
A briefing for the city brand 7/80Bologna City Branding

8. Among the over 500 proposals received, the jury has selected the winner: the group of authors
Matteo Bartoli and Michele Pastore (Trieste)
“The project … proposes a dynamic and open system of identity able to set going processes
with the participation of all the population of Bologna, and visitors and institutions.
The system, proposing an open code, places at the center of communication, as the principal
player, the citizen, and envisions the city of Bologna not only as architecture and physical space,
but as the result of a summation of individuals, businesses, vicissitudes, ideas and visions.
The project is not limited to proposing an identity system visible through a single graphic
proposal but proposes complete development of all artefacts, online and offline. Despite the
complexity of the concept, the project shows easy access, and is usable by anybody, of any
age, gender or culture.”
International competition to create a logo and
a payoff for the city of Bologna (July–October 2013)
A briefing for the city brand 8/80Bologna City Branding

9. “The problem to be addressed, in studying a possible
visual identity for the city, it was therefore twofold:
first, to live together in a “brand” the multiple facets
and infinite perceptions of the city-that constitute what
“is Bologna”.
on the other hand, provide the system of sufficient
strength and visual coherence to be perceived as such,
and thus be an effective tool of connection and tangible
enhancement of all these qualities.”
Brand New (on line magazine)
A briefing for the city brand 9/80Bologna City Branding

10. 2
What is Bologna?

11. —
The identity
of Bologna
is given by a set
of unique
tangible elements

12. Colli
Torre degli Asinelli
Piazza Maggiore – Archiginnasio
Basilica di Santo Stefano – San Michele
Montagnola – Salaborsa – Palazzo Grassi
Palazzo d’Accursio – Palazzo dei Notai
Basilica di San Petronio – Arena del Sole
Palazzo dei Banchi – Fiera – Mambo – Teatro
Santuario della Madonna di San Luca
Fontana di Nettuno – Stadio Dall’Ara
Reno Colle di Barbiano
Portici
What is Bologna? 12/80Bologna City Branding

13. —
but the identity
of the city is characterized
also from a multitude of
intangible and subjective
elements

14. Passeggiare
Tortellini – Tagliatelle – Ragù
Piazza Maggiore – Pupi Avati – Arte
Pier Paolo Pasolini – Guglielmo Marconi
Cultura – Zuppa Inglese – Cesare Cremonini
Lucio Dalla – Fortitudo – Virtus – Lasagna
Mozart – Pazienza – Università – Friggione
Cardinal Mezzofanti – Alberto Tomba
Giorgio Morandi – Certosino
Panone – Crescentine
Festival
What is Bologna? 14/80Bologna City Branding

15. —
The identity
of a modern city
is the result
of the union
of all these elements

16. Colli
Torre degli Asinelli
Piazza Maggiore – Archiginnasio
Basilica di Santo Stefano – San Michele
Montagnola – Salaborsa – Palazzo Grassi
Palazzo d’Accursio – Palazzo dei Notai
Basilica di San Petronio – Arena del Sole
Palazzo dei Banchi – Fiera – Mambo – Teatro
Santuario della Madonna di San Luca
Fontana di Nettuno – Stadio Dall’Ara
Reno Colle di Barbiano
Portici
Passeggiare
Tortellini – Tagliatelle – Ragù
Piazza Maggiore – Pupi Avati – Arte
Pier Paolo Pasolini – Guglielmo Marconi
Cultura – Zuppa Inglese – Cesare Cremonini
Lucio Dalla – Fortitudo – Virtus – Lasagna
Mozart – Pazienza – Università – Friggione
Cardinal Mezzofanti – Alberto Tomba
Giorgio Morandi – Certosino
Panone – Crescentine
Festival
What is Bologna? 16/80Bologna City Branding

17. —
the project sought
to create a visual translation
for this multiplicity
building an open and inclusive
graphic system

18. “The graphic design proposed has sought an appropriate “translation” of this visual narrative,
building a graphics system that would give the widest range of stakeholders the ability
to contribute without specific expertise to the construction of the visual identity of the city
of Bologna. To tell this plurality of meanings and references has been designed a writing
system that replaces the graphemes of the Latin alphabet, the abstract signs characteristic.
It was thus designed an alphabet of geometric signs, due to an imaginary town typically Ita-
lian: the forms freely take up again some figurative archetypes of the Italian city of Bologna, and
more specifically (such as walls, brick mosaic, the lily and the heraldic banner of the cross citizen,
etc.).”
What is Bologna? 18/80
Brand New (on line magazine)
Bologna City Branding

19. 3
The image of the city

20. —
we designed some
abstract geometric shapes
that reflect some
figurative archetypes
of the city of Bologna

26. —
For each shape we associate
a letter of the alphabet.
For every concept that involves
Bologna is corresponding a symbol
generated by the forms

27. The image of the city 27/80Bologna City Branding

28. 4
Writing method

29. —
The shapes
are positioned concentrically,
overlapping according
to fixed proportions,
creating composite figures

30. Writing method 30/80Bologna City Branding

31. Writing method 31/80Bologna City Branding

32. Writing method 32/80Bologna City Branding

33. Writing method 33/76Bologna City Branding

34. Writing method 34/80Bologna City Branding

35. Writing method 35/80Bologna City Branding

36. Writing method 36/80Bologna City Branding

37. Writing method 37/80Bologna City Branding

38. 5
The visual identity

39. —
The coloring of the logos
follows a rule that requires
the use of two colors that
through the use of a given
transparency blend together

40. The visual identity 40/80Bologna City Branding

41. The visual identity 41/80Bologna City Branding

42. The visual identity 42/80Bologna City Branding

43. The visual identity 43/80Bologna City Branding

44. The visual identity 44/80
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8i5l86IWw
Bologna City Branding

45. 6
Applications

46. —
The system thus conceived
becomes a coordination tool
for the communication
of the institutions and organizations
involved in the project

47. Applications 47/80Bologna City Branding

48. Applications 48/80Bologna City Branding

49. Applications 49/80Bologna City Branding

50. Applications 50/80Bologna City Branding

51. Applications 51/80Bologna City Branding

52. Applications 52/80Bologna City Branding

53. Applications 53/80Bologna City Branding

54. Applications 54/80Bologna City Branding

56. Applications 56/80Bologna City Branding

57. Applications 57/80Bologna City Branding

58. Applications 58/80Bologna City Branding

59. Applications 59/80Bologna City Branding

60. Applications 60/80Bologna City Branding

61. Applications 61/80Bologna City Branding

62. Applications 62/80Bologna City Branding

63. Stazione
Autostrade
Tangenziale
Aereoporto
Tangenziale
San Lazzaro
Stadio Dall’Ara
Torre
degli Asinelli
piazza di Porto Ravegnana,
40126 Bologna, Italia
051 647 2113 – www.èbologna.it
4.5 37 recensioni
indicazioni – cerca nelle vicinanze
Applications 63/80Bologna City Branding

64. —
To allow the construction
of shared identity creating
logos is open and available
through the website
(beta) ebologna.it

65. Applications 65/80Bologna City Branding

66. Applications 66/80Bologna City Branding

67. Applications 67/80Bologna City Branding

68. Applications 68/80Bologna City Branding

69. 7
Reviews

71. “This is a difficult one to judge. There are aspects of it that I like and others that irk me. (I’m not
even going to go into the merits or demerits of this being the result of a contest — the contest
happened and this came out, end of story).
The underlying concept is quite solid: a flexible, “participatory” identity based on
geometric shapes you might see around the city of Bologna as stained glass, wall or
door decorations, medieval inscriptions or drawings, etc.
Even if they are not shapes directly pulled from specific sources, the aesthetics are there. Typing
in a word in the microsite for the new identity lets you see the concept in action and yields you
your own “é Bologna” logo where your word and the wordmark make a new logo, i.e., “Ponies is
Bologna”
Reviews 71/80
Brand New (on line magazine)
Bologna City Branding

72. “The generated logos are interesting and intriguing as visual doodads but as identifiers
of a city, I am not 100% convinced.
The transparency/overlaid effect, to me (and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why), is what takes it
from a serious proposition of city branding to just a cool graphic exercise.
The applications are attractive, though, and I can see the potential in it — it is particularly and
surprisingly convincing when used small as shown in the event materials.
Overall, it’s a curious solution that perhaps could have gone through one more layer of
refinement in how the icons are rendered and it’s still not clear when or how the city of Bologna
will use it but as fodder for us, it’s molto bene.”
Reviews 72/80
Brand New (on line magazine)
Bologna City Branding

73. 8
City of Food

74. —
City Of Food is a project
created to coordinate
all initiatives on food
that take place in the
metropolitan area of Bologna

75. City of Food 75/80Bologna City Branding

76. —
The goal is to promote Bologna
as an international city of food.
The visual identity of this project
was created thanks to the potential
of the generative logo of Bologna.

78. City of Food 78/80
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXgVEPXXaQY
Bologna City Branding

79. —
Thank you!

80. è Bologna
is part of the
Bologna City Branding Project
promoted by
photo credits: Cineteca di Bologna, Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio Bologna
©2014 – Comitato Urban Center