Fluor Studio was invited in 2010, by Cidade Guimarães Foundation and the Portuguese Design Center, to submit a proposal for the identity of the European Culture Capital - Guimarães 2012. The process began with the selection of agencies through portfolio presentation, and overcome this selection phase, we went to the final stage of the competition with a proposal for identity and communication.

As is public knowledge our proposal was not selected, however we are proud of the work undertaken and so here's a summary of what was presented.

The concept showcased revolved around creating an identity to mark everything from the region of Guimarães, bridging with the fact that the city was the starting point and the origin of Portugal. This own identity was created in 3 steps:
1 - create a symbol that reflects the Portuguese language - the "G" in union with "tilde" sign that marks the nasal vowels in the Portuguese language;
2 - a monogram which works as a visual reference to a sealing wax;
3 - create a symbol that functions as certificate of origin from Guimarães, which would endure beyond the event, aiming at a similar recognition to the ®, ™ or © marks.

The colors we used were a re-interpretation of the national colors with the bordeaux color to be representative of the institutional nature of the event, and the green water to function as dynamic color associated with the movement, culture and future. The proposal was developed until the stage where we presented the institutional communication, street signs and advertising to specific events.