Identities: Rotterdam 2001, cultural capital of Europe: 5 design proposals for a house style

This book describes the competition that lead to the creation of the graphic identity of Rotterdam 2001, cultural capital of Europe. A challenging brief formulated by Hein van Haaren (dec. 2014) and Gerard Hadders put five competing design agencies - Atelier de Creation Graphique (Paris), TCHM (Rotterdam), Mevis + Van Deursen (Amsterdam), Proforma (Rotterdam) and Qwer (Köln) – on the path of developing a hybrid graphic identity; a system of signs and typography. This to cover the demand for a multiple applicable ‘toolkit’ as a basis for communicating the multiethnic en cultural character of the city of Rotterdam; ‘Rotterdam is many Cities’. Written by Toon Lauwen and Hugues C. Boekraad, and designed by the competitions winning agency Mevis and van Deursen it is a celebration of creative thinking within the development of graphic identities and still stands as an example of ‘out of the box’ thinking.

This book describes the competition that lead to the creation of the graphic identity of Rotterdam 2001, cultural capital of Europe. A challenging brief formulated by Hein van Haaren (dec. 2014) and Gerard Hadders put five competing design agencies - Atelier de Creation Graphique (Paris), TCHM (Rotterdam), Mevis + Van Deursen (Amsterdam), Proforma (Rotterdam) and Qwer (Köln) – on the path of developing a hybrid graphic identity; a system of signs and typography. This to cover the demand for a multiple applicable ‘toolkit’ as a basis for communicating the multiethnic en cultural character of the city of Rotterdam; ‘Rotterdam is many Cities’.

Written by Toon Lauwen and Hugues C. Boekraad, and designed by the competitions winning agency Mevis and van Deursen it is a celebration of creative thinking within the development of graphic identities and still stands as an example of ‘out of the box’ thinking.