Pole wins EU birthday logo prize

A Polish art student has won a Europe-wide competition to design the EU’s 50th birthday logo.

Twenty-three year old Szymon Skrzypzak’s design uses different fonts and colours to spell out the word “together” and includes a sub heading “since 1957” marking the signing of the Treaty of Rome.

Skrzypzak’s design was judged by a specially selected panel of design experts to be the best from a field of 1700 entries and bagged the fine art student €6000 in prize money.

“The winning logo represents the diversity and vigour of Europe and at the same time it underlines the desired unity and solidarity of our continent,” said EU communication commissioner Margot Wallström.

“I warmly congratulate the winner and the other nominees – the results of the competition are impressive and demonstrate the talents of young European designers and artists.”

The winning logo will be reproduced in all official EU languages and used across EU member states to celebrate the 50th anniversary next year.

It was a big responsibility and a tough challenge to design an easily identifiable logo, added co-presenter of the award, and European parliament vice president, Alejo Vidal-Quadras MEP.

“The success of the competition demonstrates that we were right in choosing young people to design the logo.”

“Young people represent the future of Europe, so we thought it was a very good idea that the future should design the future. The EU is built on an extraordinary past…but with the logo we hope we have represented both the past and the future.”

Wallström reminded the competition finalists that Europe’s peace and democracy is sometimes taken for granted, but “exists largely thanks to European integration,” adding that the EU had “also brought a better quality of life” to Europe’s citizens.

“The six member common market of the 1950s has become the single market, the world’s biggest free trade area,” she said. “But Europe is not just a market place…for many the EU has meant hope and opportunity.”

The Swedish commissioner brushed off criticism that next year’s events were being downgraded in the face of national apathy, saying that the celebrations would focus “not just on past achievements but on looking forward to the future…about looking to where we need more Europe and where we need less”.

Vidal-Quadras added that the jury’s decision had been unanimous.

“[The design is] fresh, original, and will reflect European diversity when it is written in each EU language” and “will excite curiosity”.

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