IIDA – Perspective Fall/Winter 2019 - 6

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OSLO'S IDENTITY OVERHAUL
Over the last few decades, Oslo, Norway has been
developing a bit of an identity crisis. Long ago, the city
abandoned its visual identity system, with its 200-plus
government agencies relying on more than 250 bootlegged
logos that often confused residents.
It was a problem that was costing Oslo an estimated 40
million Norwegian kroner (approximately $4.3 million) a
year in brand maintenance, says Thor Erik Ramleth, a senior
graphic designer with Creuna, the Norway-based firm hired
to design Oslo's new logo and branding
materials. The city needed to start over.
Creuna's goal was to create a new visual
identity that could tie together all of
Oslo's municipal services. The city wanted
something that could work as well on an
event flyer as on an official summons. Above
all, it would have to signal to residents that
the communication was coming from the municipality. The
design team began by hosting workshops with government
employees, citizens, and business owners. About 1,500
people gave feedback on early prototypes, Ramleth says.
Earlier this year, the firm unveiled the final result: a
streamlined, modern logo that tips its hat to the old logo's
1924 illustration of the city's patron saint, St. Hallvard, who
has appeared on the city's seal since the Middle Ages.
"The Creuna team wanted to honor Oslo's past as a nearly
1,000-year-old city but also speak to its present and future as
a modern, world-class municipality," says Ramleth.
Through the use of minimal geometric shapes, the
flexible and legible design can easily be used digitally,

Left: Oslo, Norway's old and new logo.
Above: Oslo, Norway's new identity
and branding shown on an interior
office wall.

in print, in 3D, and in motion. "The
line weight and details were designed
to work in all sizes-from smartphones to big signs,"
Ramleth says.
In addition to the logo, the redesign includes a new
typeface for the city, Oslo Sans. Inspired by Oslo's street
signs, it is meant to be timeless and functional but also
distinct. Creuna also created a set of easily recognizable
graphic icons to visually label parks, bus routes, bicycle
lanes, and more. "Over the years, clutter had built up in
the city's identity-and because of that, Oslo's residents
didn't recognize much of the good work their government
did," Ramleth says. "Now, having one monolithic brand is
helping build stronger bonds between Oslo's residents and
the municipality."

A more comfortable sardine.
That's the promise of Move, a new smart
airline seat being developed by London
design firm Layer. Its prototype seat is
upholstered in an innovative smart textile
made with conductive threads that stiffen or
soften when an electrical current is passed
through. Sensors in the seat-managed via an
app-automatically adjust tension, movement,
temperature, and pressure to maintain optimal
ergonomic comfort for each passenger. The
app will let users further customize their
cushioning.
The seat could not come any sooner. In
2018, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers
passed a bill setting minimum requirements
for airline seat size and spacing-standards
that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
has yet to fully implement.

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Photos by: (top) Courtesy Creuna A/S; (below) Courtesy of Layer Design

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