THESSALONIKI BRAND GUIDELINES

BRAND STRATEGY

Five important points to consider while designing or writing for the city council:

It’s important that the writing part be in a way that’s both personal and inclusive. Use of personal pronouns such as “we” and “you” is also encouraged. While it’s important to be friendly and approachable, never use too much personal language, as these types of language can be very strange coming from an institution or authority.

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Humble

Although we may be confident, but we are also never overly confident. Be careful when using adjectives, and avoid being too over-the-top. Also, while your grammar is superb, be careful when using multiple syllables in your sentences. Keep in mind that the people who are reading this are also trying to help.

Confident

Having a strong point of view is very important to people who are looking for answers. Also, avoid using the subjunctive, avoid using the word “if, maybe, but, could.” The less words that are used in your sentences the better.

We can do anything in our world if we have the will and imagination to do it. All of our content should reflect this optimism, and all of our copy should feature a plan of action to fix a problem. We may be doers, but we are also always looking for ways to improve ourselves.

Hopeful

Helpful

We are here to make life easier for our citizens by providing relevant and useful information. Any information that we give should be easy to understand and should be relevant to that individual.

COLOR

Primary Colors

The colors that define the city’s personality are the core elements that help create a modern take on its history. They also work well together to create a visual brand that’s both engaging and relevant.

Supporting Colors

For some design situations, the primary colors are limiting. To give more freedom, we created supporting colors that are designed to carry the same vibrant tone but with a more subdued personality. For instance, we use the gray range and supporting colors if the primary colors aren’t working.

LOGO & SEAL

The logo is the most essential element of Thessaloniki’s visual identity both as a commune and the second city of Greece, the White tower, the seaside and the amazing sunset are the main three elements of the city, revived with a lively sense from nowadays using simple, clean, and modern lines

The city’s digital seal is used on all forms of communication, including web pages and printed documents. It is designed to work better in smaller sizes and is more modern. In some cases, the traditional seal needs to be more minimalized.

Andreas Mamoukas, flickr.com, Thessaloniki. 2022

TYPOGRAPHY

Red Hat Display & Text

Primary font: Red Hat is a family of typefaces produced in 2 optical sizes and a monospace style, in a range of weights with italics. The fonts were originally commissioned by Paula Scher, Pentagram, and designed by Jeremy Mickel, MCKL.

Red Hat is a fresh take on the geometric sans genre, taking inspiration from a range of American sans serifs including Tempo and Highway Gothic. The Display styles are low contrast and spaced tightly, with a large x-height and open counters. The Text styles have a slightly smaller x-height and narrower width for better legibility, are spaced more generously, and have thinned joins for better performance at small sizes. The two families can be used together seamlessly in a range of sizes.

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Neue Metana Next

This is a secondary font, mainly to use in special media content and advertising campaigns for young activities, events, and workshops.

Neue Metana Next is a modern minimalist design typeface with geometric type and more feature alternative characters. there include some ligature. It is inspired by hype and urban design a font suited for lifestyle with trend design.

Neue Metana Next comes with elegant style, strength, and contrasts, with features an extended Latin character set of 534 glyphs covering over 95 languages. Wagon is ready to be like a top model on the design catwalk, making your projects look classic but contemporary, finely tuned but assertive, and elegant as the best luxury fashion.

Thess is New

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ICONOGRAPHY

Easy wayfinding tool to find the direction. With simple and solid shapes, they are meant to be recognized by new and repeat users at a glance.

The icon library was built with a variety of underlying principles to ensure that everything on brand and consistent with the city’s values and provides a good visual continuity throughout its design.

PHOTOGRAPHY

PEOPLE CANDID PHOTOS

The images should capture the people of the city, as they go about their daily activities. They should be able to show a real and authentic depiction of the people who live in the city. Above all else, photos of people should feel real and should not be fake, no stock photos, no models, and no pose for the photo.

Chris Michal, flickr.com, Thessaloniki. 2022

Straightforward

Follow the scene in the less-famous areas of Thessaloniki and find real people doing real things. See real moments in the streets

Business Excellence Magazine, Thessaloniki. 2020

Closeness

You can find real people doing heroic acts in Thessaloniki. They are often captured with a wide-angle lens and a lower vantage point to create a sense of heroic bravery.

Nikos Karatolos, flickr.com, Thessaloniki. 2021

Variety

Try to find interesting details in your photos to focus on, even if it doesn’t always appear that way. This type of photography is also great because it can be used over the blurred part and still have readable text.

SKYLINES

The skyline is one of the most optimistic things about the city. Having a diverse perspective is also very important in helping people fall in love with the city. Try shooting from a different point to find a view that will be new to them. Do not follow the styles of stock photography.