The desire to improve the presentation of content from the sciences and the arts to develop the Mundus maris website into a functional and attractive platform for international cooperation for sustainable seas and a resource for interested people from different horizons led to the project to create a corporate identify for the Initiative. Carla Zickfeld, member of the Initiative and Coordinator of Progetto Tuscia, made the initial suggestion, which was welcomed by the members.
Starting in September 2009, three students of the Johannes-Gutenberg-Schule Stuttgart, Zentrum für Druck, Kommunikation und Design, Germany, in their final year of communication studies were tasked to develop a visual presentation of the Initiative. The six-months course work was conducted under the academic supervision of Rainer Leippold and two other professors of the Johannes-Gutenberg-Schule, while Carla Zickfeld ensured the coordination.
The three students received inputs about the Initiative in the form of a questionnaire/profile and information materials about the Initiiative as well as further guidance from Carla Zickfeld and Rainer Leippold. In December 2009, the three students, Susi Eisele, Tatjana Rotfuss and Nadine Smola submitted three design ideas, to provide some insights into the development process. They meanwhile completed their academic assignment in the form of a complete portfolio composed of logo, business cards, stationary, a flyer for presenting the Initiative and a web design.
Their results have been publicly presented in Stuttgart on 5 February 2010. Another public presentation took place in Brussels by the young designers themselves in the occasion of a lunch debate at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). The portfolios have been assessed by an international jury. As a result, the Initiative expects to be able to improve its graphical presentation soon. The following pages are intended to recognise all three proposals. Read on to see summaries of the proposals.