Activities

The extensive activities promoted by our Ecumenical Center – training, publications, multimedia, web and social media – are identified through ad hoc visual communication. The identifying symbol of the Center is its logo. Over the years the logo has evolved, starting in the 1960’s from its first monochrome version on the Bulletin. This was followed by a typographic revision with the introduction of color in the subsequent years finally arriving at the first digital versions with the advent of computer technology – found on the first version of the website in 1999.

Logo changes

Later versions saw the use of precise lettering, the careful choice of fonts and pictogram revisions. In successive prototypes aesthetic improvements were made: introducing shades of color around the globe, implementing refinements in the figures, and finally in the CMYK four-color format of the official publications and digital media using the RGB color method.

50 years of activity

For the 50th anniversary of the Centro, a special logo was designed that was used throughout the 2017-2018 celebrations. Subsequently, in 2019 the previous bordeaux version was replaced with a restyled version of the special anniversary logo.

The logo of the Center has been adapted, in the colors and stylistic features, for the various publishing media.

Social and digital media

For example in social media, the logo has been proposed by a particular version where the symbols are uniformly dyed in light blue resting on a vertically shaded background from yellow to white.

A logo (abbreviation of logotype, from Greek: λόγος, romanized: logos, lit. ‘word’ and Greek: τύπος, romanized: typos, lit. ‘imprint’) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordmark, including a careful typographic lettering.

Source: Wikipedia

Beginning with the publication of the Bulletin in 1969, the logo is visible on its cover.

The first version of the logo with the globe and pictograms was introduced starting in 1974 as seen from the cover of the Bulletin published that year.

In 1993, the logo had a first change. From that year until 2012, the printed version of the Bulletin appeared with the monochromatic red logo, as can be seen in the image beside. Note the change in the globe, which is proposed with an inclination of the axis.

In February 1999 there was an exchange of ideas by the staff concerning a possible stylistic modification of the logo. Proposals were drawn up, such as the next draft. But then it was decided to give continuity to the traditional appearance of the logo, related to the graphic line of the historical logo.

In 1999 the Center creates its own website with a revised logo. The lettering takes shape and the font chosen for this version for the website is the “Copperplate Gothic”.

Since 2013 the Bulletin has been published only in a digital version on the web. The logo used was the one with the restyled globe and pictograms. Comparing the images below, one can see the changes in the details of the pictogram – now more curved and less static. Also a shade of light blue has been applied to the globe to make it more dynamic by evoking the color of the planet Earth seen from above.

In January 2013, with the advent of global dissemination of social media, the Center launches its own profile on Twitter. This profile is linked to the website, expanding its activity in telematic media. For this occasion an ad hoc logo is elaborated, with the predominance of sky-blue evenly distributed on the globe and with the pictograms that projects a clear external glow is now positioned on a gradient background from yellow to white.

The second version of the Center’s website is published on the network in 2014. In conjunction with this launch, the logo is undergoes a redesign in the lettering. The biblical phrase “Ut Omnes Unum Sint” (Jn 17:21) is inserted in the logo between quotation marks (from the Latin ‘that all may be one’). The font chosen for this version is “Sansation”. In the figure below, see a variant of the logo used on the website.

An elaborate variant of the logo is the “outline” version. This appeared on various media – printed and digital gadgets – where a high contrast of the figure is required due to the surface where it is placed, most often on a dark color or on jagged or uneven surfaces. In order to appreciate the visibility of the logo, a version with “only contours” is needed. The figure below is an example of the logo, with lettering, in high contrast black and white, proposed in 2015.

2016 saw the website expand with new sections with the library having a wider and more accessible catalog, and a new publishing platform. So for the 3.0 version of the site, the logo lettering is adapted to the new needs with a more formal and classic font but just as elegant in shape. The slogan Ut Omes Unum Sint is proposed without the quotes. The chosen character is the “Canaro”.

In the figure below see the application of the logo on business cards, materials and gadgets for our Summer course in ecumenism.

For the celebration of the 50 years of activity of the Center, a study of the logo was prepared. By drawing on the experience made up to now and projecting towards the future, this study maintained the commitment to promote ecumenism but to look at the challenges of the coming years.

Below is a layout of the sequence of the study prepared for the launch of the commemorative logo in two languages.

Based on a slightly restyled the model of the 50th anniversary logo, the new logo of the Center is proposed in its full chromatic expressiveness, highlighting the properties already reported in the previous study, such as: Multiplicity, Encounter and Unity looking forward to the road ahead.

In 2016, the Center’s WebTV was launched with its own logo and an identity designed for the broadcasting of audiovisual content.

The thumbnail presentation of the interviewed speakers, published in conjunction with the broadcast on the WebTV.

Simultaneously with the WebTV, the ecumenical formation series, entitled “120 Seconds of Ecumenism”, began in the style of short clips. The series logo is included in the opening and closing titles of the videos.

In the photo below, an example of the application of the logo of “120 Seconds of Ecumenism” found on the stand-up pannel used during the filming of the episodes.

Below, the application in the microphone flag, used for video interviews.

Among the formation activities of the Center is the Summer course in ecumenism that has its own special logo. It is disseminated on all digital and printed media: teaching materials, promotion on the web and social media, documentary videos and gadgets.

Below, a frame from the Summer Course logo used in the opening titles of the video documentary published on the WebTV.

Press play for the three-dimensional animation of the logo.

Title page on the Worship booklet and course program.

The application of the logo on the material supplied to the students.