Al pensar en Los Ángeles, a alguien joven que nunca haya pisado la ciudad le vendrá a la mente los típicos símbolos que Instagram perpetúa. Surferos influencers, furgonetas camper, veinteañeros que se machacan a dominadas en las barras de la playa, música para fluir, chándales. Y mucha moda boho chic. En definitiva, un poco lo que se respira en la nueva identidad de marca con la que cuenta la ciudad estadounidense desde el pasado mes de julio.

It is, in fact, the official image.The Municipal Board of Tourism and Conventions commissioned the design of two national agencies, House Industries and Studio Number One, with a very specific objective: attract tourists and business conferences organizers, to be able to be from the millennial generation or Zeta, andof markets with a loose purchasing power that allows to correct the Batacazo of the COVID-19.The logo, because a new one has also been created for the occasion, is of bright colors that simulate a sunset within the ten lyrics of Los Angeles, written with a retro aesthetic typography.

But the city of the west coast is not the only one that has changed identity to strengthen its image of doors out, especially under economic interest.New York already tried in 1977 with the famous I Love New York by Milton Glaser, also with the intention of winning tourists in the face of violence and fear that reigned in a city mired in bankruptcy.And it worked.The image, which in theory was going to last only two months on the street, managed to increase tourism income from 500 million dollars in 1976 to 1600 in 77, as detailed on the online platform for sale of Artsy art.

In the case of I Amsterdam, in 2004, the City Council sought to maintain the Dutch capital among the main destinations of Europe, with a slogan that embraced inclusion and diversity.Economic problems did not, but a pressure for not lowering the figures of travelers and investors.And it also worked.An average of 6.000 photos were recorded up to date in the Museumplein Square, where the sign was placed before they removed it in 2018, precisely, to congregate too many tourists.

There are more examples of success, "and of villages that would cost anyone on the map," says the Astrid Stavro graphic designer, a partner of the Pentagram and author study, among other projects, of the identity of the Disseny Museu of Barcelona in Barcelona.

Entonces, ¿un logo puede revitalizar la situación de una ciudad?

By itself, considers Stavro, it is incapable: “A logo is the roof of a house, and for that roof to support and function below, a solid brand architecture must have been built first, which is what was done in New York andIn Amsterdam ".It is not about creating a zero brand, but about developing a branding exercise on the brand that already have many cities on the planet, sometimes without knowing it."In fact, they have it from the Middle Ages, when the heraldry and arms shields, the flags ... those symbols that are identifiers and give sense of belonging," explains the designer, "explains the designer.

Héctor Muelas, Creative Global Director of Expedia Group, agrees: "In the end a city is a system with specific views, values and behaviors with which you, as a inhabitant, traveler or consumer, you feel or not identified,"Catalan thinks.“So, to mention a city, I don't know if Sarajevo is a brand, but most cities are.Only that there is rarely a figure, which has been a creative director, that it is proposed to work that system ”.

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And when working, in Spanish cities you tend to make tourist ads on TV and marques, almost always for promotional purposes, or to design just a logo that, according to teeth, is not even necessary.This is how he would work the case of Los Angeles, where he lived during his stage as creative director of Apple's Global Marketing Division: “You have to start asking something key: What is Los Angeles?What are the values that make up your identity?Then we will have to see how you translate them into creative expressions that people understand, whether facilities at street level, a movie or a logo.And if it is a logo, at least it must reflect the values of the site and its complexity, not a design, ”he emphasizes.

Do you think the new image of Los Angeles reflects it?"Beyond that I can work or not," says Telas, "I look at her and I don't see the skid low or Venice Beach's tents.Neither does its origin, because we are talking about a site that was a Mexican colony.Many things in the city, and that make it what it is today, they are not there.What I see is a very sweetened version, designed more to make sweatshirts and sell them at the airport than to transmit the values of the angels ”.

Aunque responda a una necesidad económica, ¿debe crearse para el turista?

Stavro is clear: “Not at all.Tourists are the consequence of a job well done, and that means building the image from inside out, encapsulating in it what the people or community wants to be, their feeling ”.That happened just in the four years that Nacho Padilla was as a creative director at the Madrid City Council while governing Manuela Carmena.Many of the campaigns that were prepared, such as those of the 8M or the World Pride 2017, ended up flooding the networks, and the people wanted to hang the posters in their own home, even stealing them.Some created the Koln Studio design agency.Pablo Mariné, one of his two founding partners, also speaks of how important it is to build a brand from citizens: "It is the same as in a company," he says.“If someone who works in a corporation does not believe the message that will be launched outside, there is a small mistake.And if a citizen does not share the point of view of the brand that has been created, it will be difficult for him to last and be solvent, to communicate well ”.

Mariné cites an example that seems interesting: Chicago's.At the beginning of 2020, the Ogilvy agency presented a visual system in which five stars had been included.The four of the city's flag, plus one that citizens can already download online and combine it to taste with the identity of their business.There is a double purpose.On the one hand, invite everyone to participate in the identity of their municipality.And on the other, to ensure that different services and public institutions operate under the same badge, thus creating a solid and much more profitable brand.According to the American magazine Fast Company, Chicago estimates that it can save between five and ten million dollars a year if it manages to unify the design of 29 official departments with the star.

¿Cómo debería crearse (o renovarse) la marca de una ciudad española?

For Pablo Mariné, the essential is the previous issue: “Is it necessary?Because there must be an objective, as in the case of I Love New York ".If so, both the co -founder of Koln Studio and Astrid Stavro agree that to call a contest between agencies, by the City Council, and with a commission that is well built would be the most appropriate option."And if the contest was paid, it would be perfect," adds the designer laughing.

Stavro also suggests a way to participate to citizens: "You could ask how they see their city or what aspect would highlight, and that this information is delivered to the agencies so that they then translate it into their proposals".

Héctor Muelas would also make a contest, although selecting the candidates in detail.It explains: “Not like what (Pasqual) Maragall did with Cobi- in the Olympic Games of Barcelona 92- that he chose Javier Mariscal- the author of the pet- because the two were friends.The idea would be to assess which local studies reflect the values of the city, and choose those who personify their culture ”.

¿Acabaría esta iniciativa politizándose?

"I doubt that there has been some conflict between Democrats and Republicans with respect to the new image of Los Angeles, but in Spain," concludes teams, "surely it would become a political instrument, and that the mayor on duty would replace identity every fouryears".Something that Stavro sees inevitable;It happens even in her own work: "It doesn't matter how time you have been developing an identity.If it is for a company and in between there is a change of director, it is very likely that the new wants to review or modify the work you have done ”.