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Pula
Identity Design
Parabureau, Zagreb, Croatia
It’s not every day that a design firm is approached by a 2,000-year-
old client. That explains, in part, Parabureau’s very modern yet
very traditional identity solution for the Croatian city of Pula.
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the
southern tip of the Istria Peninsula. The Pula City Tourist Board
asked Parabureau (Zagreb) to create a visual identity that would
better promote the city to tourists. Its existing crest was a tradition-
ally flavored emblem that contained a bold yellow Latin cross set
on a green coat-of-arms shield. It was not very twenty-first-century
in its old manifestation, but the Parabureau designers saw a lot of
potential in keeping the cross.
In considering Pula’s many attractions, they came up with the
slogan, “Pula is More.” The word more made them see the yellow
cross in a new way: as a plus sign.
“The old emblem and its green and yellow colors were already
widely accepted by Pula’s inhabitants, so we used it as the basis
for the visual identity,” says art director Igor Stanisljevic. “The
Latin cross from the emblem was transformed into the plus sign.”
Now the equation could be almost anything: Pula + whatever the
city wanted to promote.
The designers also created a modular visual communications
system which visually depicts various combinations, such as
“concert + amphitheater,” or “beach life + cultural event.” The
intriguing combinations of visuals made citizens and tourists alike
take a new look at Pula.
The design team selected lowercase letters in Heisei Maru Gothic
for several reasons: First, this face in the lowercase was a good
compositional balance with the plus sign. The other reason was
more hidden, but it makes sense for a city that wants to appear to
be more contemporary: “We wanted to move away from Roman
capitals,” says Stanisljevic.
Creative/art directors: Igor Stanisljevic and Marko Baus
Strategists: Igor Stanisljevic and Marko Baus
Art director: Petar Popovic
Designers: Maja Turcic, Kristina Ivancic
The new Pula city logo with a variety of applications that demonstrate the “plus” concept behind the design.
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