Corporate Identity

At the end of 2015, the City of Lugano launched a national graphic design competition to create a new logo based on a reinterpretation of the city's historic coat of arms. About thirty teams from all over Switzerland participated in the competition. The jury - composed of national and international professionals - selected the proposal from the Consorzio Cascio-Mazzei of Lugano, composed of designer Alfio Mazzei and the C-comunicazione studio of Margherita and Gregorio Cascio. The Consorzio was therefore tasked with creating the new institutional image (Corporate Identity) of the City.

The goal is to renew the image of the Administration, adapting it to modern times and, for the first time, to create a transversal visual identity that strengthens Lugano's image, fosters the identification between citizens and the City, and, not least, improves internal and external communication processes.

The new logo does not replace the shield that historically identifies the City of Lugano, which is retained on flags, historical buildings, markers, and seals of control or warranty.

The logo is constructed by deconstructing the elements of the historical coat of arms and reinterpreting them. The essential features of the shield remain - necessary to preserve its character and connection to tradition - yet they are presented with lightness, evoking analogies consistent with the development of the city: a territory enclosed by the four fields of the coat of arms, but simultaneously open to the four cardinal points; a Lugano that values tradition while embracing new impulses and the challenge of integrating districts and aggregated villages. The cross is the main component: it binds all elements of the coat of arms, from which they originate and to which they converge.

The eye perceives the cross with strength, making its physical presence unnecessary. Understood without being seen, the cross becomes both a point of strength and an element of lightness. By giving the logo freshness, it becomes its innovative component. The shield, thus reinterpreted, is more approachable, more human, and contemporary, embodying the new spirit of the City, which aims to be strong yet welcoming and open.

A new institutional identity

The Ufficio comunicazione (Communication Office) of the City, together with the Consorzio Cascio-Mazzei and in collaboration with all city departments, is working on the implementation of the new visual system and logo on all communication materials issued by the City of Lugano, as well as on all official documentation. The work will be gradual, and the new image will take shape progressively, in line with the various needs of the City’s sectors and the different digital document platforms.