Title	UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS HELSINKI, VISUAL IDENTITY
Brand	UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS HELSINKI
Product/Service	BRANDING
Category	A09. 360 BRAND & IDENTITY EXPERIENCE
Entrant Company	BOND CREATIVE AGENCY Helsinki, FINLAND
Advertising Agency	BOND CREATIVE AGENCY Helsinki, FINLAND

Name	Company	Position
Jesper Bange	Bond	Creative Director
James Zambra	Bond	Graphic Designer
Toni Hurme	Bond	Graphic Designer
Arttu Salovaara	Bond	Strategic Manager
Mirva Kaitila	Bond	Producer
Mikko Ryhänen		Photographer
Veikko Kähkönen		Photographer
Paavo Lehtonen		Photographer
Arsi Ikäheimonen		Photographer
Antti Hietaniemi		Animation
Rachele Rangoni		Animation
Mira Ohlsson		Copywriter
Laura Manninen	University Of The Arts Helsinki	Head Of Communications
Paula Tuovinen	University Of The Arts Helsinki	Vice Rector
Elisa Ylinen	Sibelius Academy	Head Of Communications
Tuomas Auvinen	Sibelius Academy	Dean
Kirsi Korhonen	Academy Of Fine Arts	Head Of Communications
Markus Konttinen	Academy Of Fine Arts	Dean

Brief Explanation

To create a brand architecture and a unified identity that binds the three academy brands and the university brand together, while at the same time leaving enough room for the academies and their organizations to build their own profiles. Creating an identity that works across the different arts and avoids the typical clichés was another key challenge.

The Brief

To create a unique brand for the new University of the Arts Helsinki. At the beginning of 2013 three of Finland’s most prestigious art academies, the Academy of Fine Arts, the Sibelius Academy and the Theatre Academy, merged into one university called The University of the Arts Helsinki. The new university now consists of the three academies that have equal roles and cultural weight. In the merger the three existing academy brand names were kept. The client wanted the University to be portrayed as “Finland’s most interesting university”.

How the final design was conceived

The identity strategy was to create a distinctive set of logotypes based on a common design language, and to introduce an anchor symbol that acts as a point of connection between the university mother brand and the three academy brands. The identity doesn't play it safe. The deconstructed logotypes distinguish the university from business and science universities. The simple and bold 'X' has plenty of meanings, just like art does. The symbol can be seen,for example,as a starting point, a destination, a meeting place, a location, a signature, an unknown force, a warning, an irritant, a question and a solution.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The identity is distinctive and portrays the University as “Finland’s most interesting university” which was the original brief. The goal was to not leave viewers cold and the fact is that the identity has caused a lot of reaction and debate, both positive and negative. The great thing is that everybody has an opinion about it.