In cooperation with VisitVoss, Creuna launched new destination branding for Voss on May 13. The new branding and profile were launched with great enthusiasm at a public meeting that drew 200 Voss inhabitants.
Creuna, in cooperation with VisitVoss and the Norwegian Design Council, has developed a profile and branding for Voss. Creuna strived to set a new standard in destination branding. In addition to the brand necessarily appealing to external groups, there were also two main goals for the outcome: that it be embraced by Voss inhabitants and that the branding should have the kind of appeal that is suited for expression on a t-shirt.
The starting point was a tourism strategy that was already established locally, and combining this with continual acceptance-check among all interested parties made for a very efficient process.
“We seized upon the existing brand capital of Voss as a different sort of place, a place filled with the right kind of madness and a place where people dare,” says Harald Ofstad Fougner, Creuna advisor. “There is a particularly Voss way of doing things, and that led us to our next source of inspiration: Voss has its own tradition for making up its own words and expressions Vossafår (sheep), Vossåmål (Voss dialect), Vossastakk (Voss traditional dress) etc. So Creuna developed a concept that constructs new expressions –Voss expressions that, together with pictures, clearly communicate that things are a little different in Voss.
The logo is inspired by the fact that, in Voss, people playfully mix things up a bit --so in the logo, Creuna has reversed the last “s” in the word, Voss. In addition, they have been inspired by the traditional way of forming words in Voss and the fact that Voss lies in the heart of the fjordlands of Norway.
This is a brand that is not only a reflection of what Voss is, but that is conceptualized and articulated in a way that is easy to build upon. It is marketable and at the same time flexible, and has a life of its own as the Voss brand.
The brand was launched at a public meeting at Fraktgodsen in Voss. There was general celebration and all the t-shirts were quickly seized upon by the enthusiastic crowd.
Anne Grethe, Director of VisitVoss commented on the cooperation with Creuna:
“Working with Creuna to bring forth a new visual profile for Voss has been inspiring in every way. To capture Voss and Voss inhabitants in a single profile was for us, being completely without design expertise, a challenge that demanded we get the very best on our team. The group of extremely talented people that Creuna put together for this project delivered completely in line with our expectations.
It has been challenging in a positive way, with room for good dialogue along the way. VisitVoss ‘s tourism expertise and Creuna’s expertise in developing creative branding concepts has led to a result that the local paper describes as, “brilliantly simple”. A brilliantly simple concept that would be an instant hit with Voss inhabitants was exactly what I dreamed of. Now that dream has come true and is soon ready to be launched for the rest of the world!”