A visual identity to tell a city’s story and highlight its character

City of Udine

A city branding proposal developed as a degree project, bringing Udine’s architecture, stories and cultural landmarks together in a flexible visual language.

CLIENT

Degree project · Personal project

YEAR

2017

SECTOR

City branding, Tesi di laurea

ROLE

Research, city branding and visual design

SERVICES

Logo, Identità visiva, Wayfinding, Web Design, Merchandising, Affissioni

THE PROJECT

A recognisable visual system for a city with many stories.

Developed as a degree project, the work explored a more consistent way to present Udine to residents and visitors. The aim was to build a system that could bring together different places, stories and experiences, rather than represent the city through a single monument.

01 · THE CHALLENGE

Representing more than a coat of arms or a single monument.

Udine has a rich network of buildings, museums, public spaces and local stories, but the degree project began with the lack of a unified city branding system. The challenge was to create an identity broad enough to represent the whole city and practical enough to support tourism, culture and public information.

02 · THE PROCESS

Finding a shared form in Udine’s most familiar symbols.

I deepened my understanding of Udine by reading a range of texts and exploring different approaches to the logo. In conversations with people, I noticed that their memories of the city were often tied to familiar landmarks, such as the square, the Angelo dei Venti and the Clock Tower.

This led me to look for a form that could bring these references together while also suggesting the U in Udine. I simplified the different elements and combined them into a single symbol.

03 · THE SOLUTION

A flexible “U” that becomes a frame for the city.

The final symbol brings the references together in a compact U-shaped form. It can serve as an institutional logo or open up to frame photographs. Posters, outdoor campaigns, maps, wayfinding, merchandise and digital content use the same graphic device, showing different aspects of Udine while keeping the identity recognisable.

04 · THE RESULT

A complete city branding concept, designed to evolve.

The degree project created a visual system to connect Udine’s promotion, wayfinding and cultural communication. The applications explore how a single identity can tell different stories about the city.

This experience helped shape the research approach I still use today: getting to know and understand the context before translating it into a visual language.