Vitalizing City Centres through Integrated Spatial Planning - the project with the long tounge twisting name, the strange abbreviation VISP, and the strong logo.

Many visitors of the VISP portal www.vispnet.org and of VISP activities in the partner cities of Drammen, Hamburg-Harburg, Enschede, Kortrijk, Matlock and Mölndal often put the question: what does the VISP logo symbolize, what is the story behind the logo? Here comes the true story of the VISP logo!
Inspired by the aims of the project and of enthusiasm about having received the approval of the grant offer letter, two well reputed designers in Drammen were invited to compete in making the VISP logo.
The two suggestions were presented to the VISP Steering Committee at the kick-off meeting of the VISP project two months after the approval of the project, the 28th of February 2004 and a vote was taken.

The winning VISP design was made by Jan Roger Grinna in TIBE Communications in Drammen:
- I have made a simple, but expressive symbol that is meant to give many positive and strong associations to the project. It is powerful, easy to remember, and flexible in use. With the logo, Jan Roger also presented a list of associating words such as:

«global, international, trans-cultural, integration, growth, life, blossom, strength, teamwork, development, network, energy, planning, organising, system, city, co-operation, creativity, different views, commitment, progress, inconceivable possibilities».

Some of them have no doubt been very much a part of the project work!

A remarkable coincidence

The VISP symbol is a very strong one, and has obviouosly been used by artists before our logo designer. It was however a great surprise when project leader Eva Fabry discovered that the beautiful granite sculpture group in the Mölndal market included the base of a three dimensional VISP symbol! The well known Swedish sculptor Yngve Brothén who has made the sculpture has absolutely no connection to the VISP project, and neither has the sculpture.

The City of Mölndal got the Swedish Good Design Prize 2004 for the hub area around Mölndal Bridge of which Brothén’s group sculpture called «Passage» is a part.
Graphic designer Jan Roger Grinna has never been to Mölndal, and was both surprised and excited to hear about the sculpture in Mölndal.'Naturally, if I had known that the design had already been used by a sculptor, I would have made the VISP logo different, he says, - but I would really like to see the sculpture and learn what inspired the artist that made it.'

The VISP graphic profile

With a complicated name there was a need to expess a clear and bright image. It became important to make a simple, clean graphic profile programme that could be used by the VISP partners every where: On the web portal, on official documents, presentations, hand-outs, posters etc, with the VISP logo together with the logos of the EU and the Interreg Programme.
The fonts and colours are set, and are not to be changed.

By using the shapes and colours of the logo in different ways, graphic designer Liv Tysnes has supplied the profile programme with decorative elements to be used for different purposes.

Based on the feedbacks the VISP logo has all the elements to enhance the maintainance and expansion of the VISP network.

Mia Brambani - Newsletter 3-2006