Promoting excellence in world literature

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Identity
Dublin Literary Award

Background

The Dublin Literary Award is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English. The Award promotes excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by Dublin City Council and administered by Dublin City Libraries. Nominations are submitted by libraries in major cities throughout the world. 

Nominations are submitted by libraries in major cities throughout the world

Objective

Being a strong factor in Dublin’s status of ‘Unesco City of Literature’, the DLA seeks to engage literature lovers worldwide. Lacking a clear brand identity for the past years, the visual communication of DLA needed a clear focus. We were asked to add some flavour and sophistication to the brand and implement it in all digital and physical communication around the 2022 Award Ceremony.

Approach

As Dublin City Council is the main supporter of the Award, and has a very clear branding for itself, we decided to embrace the fact that the sponsors logo should be visible in all communication, rather than to fight it. We took the three castles – part of the rich legendary stories of the city’s heritage – of the City Council logo and use it as the base for the typographic composition. A sophisticated combination of blue and gold grants the identity the distinguished feel it deserves.

Result

The new brand identity for the Dublin Literary Award establishes the brand as one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world.