The Council of Europe is an institution of continental importance. An organization of 47 member countries with ties, policies and activities that incorporate almost all of Europe. Now, imagine this small country (of just 2.8 M people) that is asked to chair the Council of Europe. Should Albanians consider this moment as a great opportunity to express all their creative drive?

After 17 years of membership in the Council of Europe, Albania took the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers from May to November 2012. To mark and celebrate this period the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted VATRA to develop a brand that represented the country.

We took it as a privilege but mainly as a challenge: How could we balance such an Albanian-oriented achievement with the motto of the Council of Europe “United in Diversity”?

We hunted for inspiration and found it in un/common ways and places. The result was a simple, yet elegant brand identity. To express diversity in the logo, we used all the flag colors of the member countries. The colors “float” around the same axis. They unite in concentric circles. The same circles give shape to the architectonic design of the organization meeting hall, observed from a top view POV. At the very core of the logo, we placed two circles colored in red and black, as elements that symbolize the Albanian flag.