Wolda and Eulda winners at Syzygy conference

On 6 June 2008, the Art Directors Club of Europe (ADC*E) held its first ever design and advertising conference, Syzygy, in Barcelona.

Held at the CaixaForum, the name of the event referred to the rare alignment of three stars of the design and advertising universe: a spectacular creative event only visible from Barcelona.

The conference attracted an international crowd of almost 200 people from around Europe.

The guest speakers were Ami Hasan (Finland) and Toni Segarra (Spain), Peter Saville (UK) in conversation with Pablo Martin (Spain), and Mauro Pastore (Italy), President and Co-founder of Eulda Books and Cacao Design, a small Milanese firm with numerous international awards to its name.

Pastore presented his ideas on the main theme of the conference, namely the genius loci ("spirit of the place"), focusing on cultural diversity in branding and logo design, the core businesses of Cacao Design and Wolda, the Worldwide Logo Design Annual.

William Crerar, Head of Marketing at Eulda Books, also spoke, completing the presentation with visual examples of the winning logos from the Eulda '07 annual, part of a growing archive of design trends and diversity.

After two years observing the thousands of logos participating in Eulda, their conclusion was that factors such as the globalisation of companies and markets, the mixing of national cultures and the influence of the internet appear to have practically eliminated cultural identifiers in contemporary European logo design, with the result that national or regional cultural identity is now only visible when it forms part of the client's objectives and appears in the design brief.

The first edition of Wolda, the Worldwide Logo Design Annual, appears later this year.

Like Eulda before it, the annual will be arranged by nation, making it easier to identify any evidence of cultural differences or genius loci that may emerge at a global level.

Wolda is the high-profile graphic design award scheme that rewards the best logos and trademarks designed throughout the world, creating an archive that tracks the evolution of tastes, styles and trends in global design, year after year.

Wolda's standing is guaranteed by the endorsement of many of the most important design associations: Wolda is the only awards scheme in the world endorsed by more than 100 design associations and schools.

Back to top