Astana, Give Me an "A!"

I was rather fond of the existing Expo 2017 bid logo, but apparently there are plans to use a different logo for the event itself. They've narrowed down the designs to seven.

My personal favorite is the fifth one, a stylized "A." I think it's unique, addresses the theme in a broad way and feels appropriate for Kazakhstan and Central Asia in general.

The first one, to me, is a little too "on the nose" for an energy theme and seems to limit the theme to a narrower definition of "energy."

The second and fourth ones are pleasant, but I could see both used for lots of uses. They seems very generic. Is it a world's fair? A software company? A shipping company?

The third one is just too obvious and relies too much on an overdone typographic trick.

The sixth one is a bit too simple for my tastes... and also looks very much like Aichi, Japan's Expo 2005 logo.

The seventh one is nice, too, but again, I think it seems to narrow the theme too much a specific definition of "energy." It would make an excellent solar power company logo, however.

You can vote here:
http://www.expo2017astana.com/ru/voting/

The World's Fair Podcast, Episode 20: Listener Questions

In episode 20 of the World's Fair Podcast, Urso and John respond to listener questions, including some very philosophical questions about the sustainability of expo, what makes a "successful" world's fair, and the importance of site planning, architecture and design.

Listen to this podcast as an MP3.

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International Exposition Identity and Branding

In January 2008, I was invited to guest lecture a graphic design class at Cal Poly Pomona. The class project is to study the history of Olympic games identity. Each student then creates a branding strategy for an Olympic bid.

I spoke about the history of international expositions and their identity and branding strategies since 1958.

Here were the supporting visuals (with no audio):