Argentina

New:  Logo and visual system

Launched:  July 6, 2006

Story in brief:
Under President Kirchner, a team of government and private institutions hammered out an "Estrategia de Marca País," a Nation Branding strategy, and a daunting design challenge: Express a fresh, new presence for Argentina at home and in the world, to better support its people's aspirations for global commerce, culture and national confidence. As a country to live in, it should celebrate Argentina's authenticity, passion, expressiveness and warmth. As a county to work in and do business with, it should support innovation,  professionalism and knowledge. The more specific design brief:

● Understand identity as dynamic, not fixed;  what we are becoming, not what we are.
● Think of the brand not as a mark but as a system, a visual language.
● Avoid the outsiders' expectations (no gauchos, no tangos);  instead, affirm our own new point of view.
● Nothing banal, corporate or mercantile, or pinteresque and obscure.
● A brand that relates to people in everyday life, not to marketing experts.
● A brand consistent with a youthful nation.

In the first round, the credentials of some 69 branding and design firms (including some of the globals) were accepted; finally,45 of them would present a recommendation. The Brea/Luna/Mikalef submission was the unanimous choice of an impressively qualified jury of intellectual, cultural and business leaders.

 The new mark is an abstraction, yet it's "national ribbons" evoke a waving banner.  According to Guillermo Brea they can mean many things... cycles of history,  telecommunications waves, even the sensual dynamics of (yes) tango, but the larger idea is "from diversity, strength and unity." And clearly, it is more than a mark; it is a system, a joyful visual presence, a gestalt.
 

Credits:
C.E.O. - Presidente Dr. Nestor Kirchner
Identity design - Guillermo Brea & Associates,
with Alejandro Luna and Carolina Mikalef

First Impressions:
As you can probably tell, I like it. Although I detest open competitions for their waste and disdain of professionalism, this one worked. It's one of the best place brands of the decade.

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