Mark of a Champion branding unveiled at European Championships 2018 launch
The European Championships, which will be staged for the first time in Glasgow and Berlin in 2018, has unveiled a unifying brand identity.
Revealed at a launch event in Glasgow today (Monday 22 February), the branding includes a star-like logo – Mark of a Champion – representing the vision at the heart of the multi-sport championships and was created by Designwerk in partnership with the host cities.
The brief was to create an identity that expressed the dynamics, freshness and unity of the event. Deignwerk chief executive officer, Christian Cook, explained: "It's rare when a project of this scale and complexity comes along. Being responsible for both the creative identity and strategic thinking that underpins the brand concept has helped create a holistic vision for all stakeholders to share."
The multi-sport event in 2018 will bring together the existing European Championships of athletics, aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon and introduces a new golf team championship to the European stage.
The new sporting partnership will run every four years with around 1500 athletes due to compete in Berlin from 7-12 August. A further 3025 athletes will visit Scotland to compete between 1-12 August 2018.
Great Britain swimmer Ross Murdoch, who attended the launch event, commented: “Every athlete wants to compete at the highest level and that is exactly what the European Championships is all about. Multi-sport events bring out the best in athletes and also in the fans who love getting behind their nation.”
European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen, co-chair of the 2018 European Championships Board, said: “The launch of this impressive brand is the starting gun for a European Championships concept that will help elevate the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships to a scale we have never seen before.”
Co-chair, Paolo Barelli, president of the Ligue Europeenne de Natation (European Aquatics), added: “This brand encapsulates everything we want to see in 2018 which will be an inspiring and ambitious event that showcases the prestigious history of the European Championships of all our sports and provides us with a fresh and dynamic stage on which to elevate our champions.”
Jamie Hepburn, Scottish Government minister for sport, said he was “delighted that Glasgow’s vibrant personality shines through this new brand”. “We have worked together with these amazing sports to create something that reflects all of our values by embracing out ambition, our strength in unity and our ongoing journey to provide opportunities for all of our citizens through the power of sport and culture.”
Each sport will unveil its own event logo during the coming months inspired by the Mark of a Champion. Olympic Gold winner and six-time World Champion Katherine Grainger narrates the European Championships launch film which was also unveiled today.