An identity unveiled

There was jubilation in Poland and Ukraine in 2007 after UEFA, European football’s governing body, announced that the two countries would be co-hosting the EURO 2012 championships. Two years later, the official tournament logo was formally unveiled to the public at a grand ceremony in Kyiv.

Braving bitter cold temperatures in Ukraine’s capital, politicians and football leaders alike gathered on Mykhailivska Square to praise the visual identity and accompanying slogan, “Creating History Together.” UEFA president, Michel Platini, said: “The vivid colors of the logo are a perfect fit with the image that Poland and Ukraine want to give to the world. The symbolism of a plant that grows is fully in line with the aspirations of the two host countries, and I am sure that we will be creating history together, with the staging of the UEFA European Football Championship in central and eastern Europe for the first time.”

Historically, football tournaments have generally lacked the cultural import often associated with the Olympics. More recently, international football’s leadership recognized that its substantial resources and influence could have positive effects on the socio-economics of developing countries. This can be seen in the selection of South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. For this reason too, I believe, Poland and Ukraine were chosen. Poland, a former Eastern Bloc nation, has emerged as a relative economic success story, while Ukraine’s democratic aspirations to “rejoin” the greater European community was evidenced in the Orange Revolution. Their shared history, territory and complex cultural entanglements make Poland and Ukraine a fascinating choice.

While leaders lauded their own achievements, the fans shrugged their shoulders in disappointment. Judging by the results of a newspaper straw poll, the logo received a lukewarm response from both Polish and Ukrainian readers. And phrases like “lacking excitement,” “bland,” “toothless,” and “the use of flowers does seem strange to identify a male-only tournament,” littered online discussions, whose participants represented many European nations. While there would be no wholesale rebellion like the one witnessed a few years ago over the London 2012 Olympic Games logo designed by Wolff Olins, the public was sceptical at best about the final design.

The logo development was led by Portuguese brand designer Helder Pombinho of the Lisbon-based Brandia Central agency. According to the UEFA Web site, the design team was inspired by the cultural reference of wycinanki (vytynanky Ukr.), a paper cutout folk art technique practiced in rural areas of Poland and Ukraine. Despite their attempts to mine the cultural riches of these two countries, the candy-colored floral patterns are neither particularly faithful to the art form, nor are they a sophisticated reinterpretation. While the symbology works—blossoming hope and growth—I’m left with a saccharine aftertaste of something inauthentic. (And I won’t even begin to address the “neutered sprites” emerging from within the blossoms.)

The pressing question that remains is why this project was not given to a joint Polish-Ukrainian design team. Apparently, UEFA has a track record of hiring design firms from outside the host nations. Surely, cultural representation made by the host nations’ own practitioners would yield more authentic results. Advertising and brand marketing may be relatively nascent industries in Eastern Europe, but graphic design, typography and commercial illustration have a long heritage there. Would it not be exciting to see how such a branding problem would be tackled in the East? What do you think?