Corporate Design

 Values

The elements of the design that ESN adopted on June 1st 2006 are based upon the research and the project developed in the period September - December 2005 by the Board and Evert Ypma and implemented by Koeweiden Postma, Dutch-leading design agency based in Amsterdam.

The new design was presented, discussed and approved at the AGM Krakow 2006with an astonishing result: out of 131 sections present or delegated, 81% were in favour while 12% voted against (7% abstaining)

The values represented, and that according to our research most ESN Members believe in and work for are: 

• unity in diversity, diversity in the unity
• students helping students
• fun in friendship and respect
• international dimension of the life
• love for Europe as an area of peace and cultural exchange
• openness with tolerance
• cooperation in the integration

In the next lines you can find a brief explanation of the meanings of the new logos and the corporate design elements.

The Logo

It is composed by the characters I*ESN and by the explanatory text "International Exchange Erasmus Student Network".

The star, which is logo of ESN itself, represents the ESN Members standing (but also dancing) in a circle, as they were holding each other's hands, supporting andhelping each other. They are different (four colours, and length) but unite and united they stand, in cooperation, which literally means "operating in concert".

The eight branches of the star, that represent also the Sections of the Network, do not have a centre, but rotate together and are partially overlapping: in such overlapping areas, their identity, what they are (the colours) merge, similarly to what happens when integration take places in friendship and respect.

The word I*ESN evidently keeps the acronym of our name, in cyan, while connecting it to a capital "I" (in different and stronger colour) which stands both for"International" and, in a bizarre and obvious way, also for the first person singular (I = me, I= International).

To connect the I (both as International and as a subject) with ESN is the star: by playing with the double meaning of the acronym I*ESN, hence, the star becomes a symbol of the exchange itself, that brings into relation the network, ESN, with the individual ("I") and the International aspect of the life.

In this way, not only the acronym can be read as a sentence available for further creative developments, in shaping sentences s.a. "I love ESN", or "I experience ESN", or yet "I live ESN", but also it becomes a dialogue between the person, the individual member and ESN. In such dynamic dialogue the star plays as a multiplying actor, provided that in the information technology the star ("*") works as amultiplying char: I "times" ESN, and ESN "times" me = I*ESN.

In the explanatory text "International Exchange Erasmus Student Network", it includes all what the network is in a synthetic way: while keeping the official name of the network in one line and in one colour ("Erasmus Student Network"), it is claimed also the support ESN brings to the International Exchange Students that throughout Europe are studying not with the Erasmus Programme.

"Exchange", finally, recalls the colours of the stars and assumes the role of explanation.
 

The colours

Four basic colours have been chosen by Koeweiden Postma for ESN Identity. This is for overcoming the risk of different typographic resolutions of complicated tints.

In fact, the colours are simply derived from the CMYK system and they will be easy to reproduce in any corner of Europe, from Greece to Finland.

While the CYAN is for ESN and for all what ESN is for, the other vary in their symbolism. Only the colour of the initial "I" is different and stands for the personal aspects of the experience with ESN.

The chosen colours, in their simplicity and variation, are fun and dynamic, just like ESN life!

Europe

We agreed with Koeweiden Postma in keeping the reference to Europe in our documents and visual aspects, as love for Europe as an area of peace and cultural exchange is one of our main values, and since ESN is operating mainly within the borders of geographic Europe.

Furthermore, ESN is cooperating closely with the European Institutions for the development and the enhancement of the exchange programmes.

All the logos of ESN are copyrighted.