Making abstract values tangible: how European University Alliances construct their visual identity in the perspective of creativity
Abstract
The European University Initiative established 64 transnational alliances of higher education institutions. Each of these European Universities Alliances seeks to align universities to enhance academic excellence and competitiveness of the European Higher Education Area. While branding of higher education institutions has become a professionalized practice, creating a transnational alliance poses challenges beyond traditional academic visual identity. The aim is to map out visual and discursive self-representation patterns of European University Alliances on their websites, involving European values such as for example, international cooperation, student mobility, and inclusivity. Using multimodal discourse analysis, this study examines online construction of academic identities of selected European University Alliances. It analyses (1) composition, colour, and typography used in European University Alliances’ logotypes; (2) the features of photographs and graphics; and (3) the typology of names and keywords in mission statements. The findings highlight the importance of generic imagery and compositional devices evoking positive emotional responses as well as recognizable cultural symbols and colours that align with the values of academia and “Europeanness”.
Keyword : academic visual identity, European universities, European University Alliance, visual identification, web pages
How to Cite
Radziej, R., & Molek-Kozakowska, K. (2024). Making abstract values tangible: how European University Alliances construct their visual identity in the perspective of creativity. Creativity Studies, 17(2), 532–547. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2024.20020
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Borgerson, J. L., & Schroeder, J. E. (2005). Identity in marketing communications: An ethics of visual representation. In A. J. Kimmel (Ed.), Marketing communication: New approaches, technologies, and styles (pp. 256–277). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199276943.003.0014
Breeze, R. (2013). Bloomsbury discourse. Corporate discourse. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Dan, V., & Arendt, F. (2021). Visual cues to the hidden agenda: Investigating the effects of ideology-related visual subtle backdrop cues in political communication. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 26(1), 22–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220936593
Danesi, M. (2006). Visual semiotics. In K. Brown (Ed.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of language and linguistics (Vol. 1, pp. 441–448). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01461-9
Djonov, E. (2007). Website hierarchy and the interaction between content organization, webpage and navigation design: A systemic functional hypermedia discourse analysis perspective. Information Design Journal, 15(2), 144–162. https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.15.2.07djo
Doğan, V. (2014). Brand name strategies at universities: Comparison of three distinct naming strategies. Journal of Management and Marketing Research, 14(14), 1–12.
ENHANCE. (2023). ENHANCE. https://enhanceuniversity.eu/
Erjansola, A.-M., Lipponen, J., Vehkalahti, K., Aula, H.-M., & Pirttilä-Backman, A.-M. (2021). From the brand logo to brand associations and the corporate identity: Visual and identity-based logo associations in a University Merger. Journal of Brand Management, 28, 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-020-00223-5
EU GREEN: European Alliance. (2023). EU GREEN: European Alliance. https://eugreenalliance.eu/
EUniWell: European University for Well-Being. (2023). EUniWell: European University for Well-Being. https://www.euniwell.eu/
European Commission: European Education Area. (2023). About the initiative. https://education.ec.europa.eu/pl/education-levels/higher-education/european-universities-initiative
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203697078
FORTHEM. (2023). FORTHEM. https://www.forthem-alliance.eu/
Frosh, P. (2002). Rhetorics of the overlooked: On the communicative modes of stock advertising images. Journal of Consumer Culture, 2(2), 171–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/146954050200200202
Fürst, S., Vogler, D., Sörensen, I., & Schäfer, M. S. (2022). Communication of higher education institutions: Historical developments and changes over the past decade. Studies in Communication Sciences, 22(3), 459–469. https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2022.03.4033
Heilbrunn, B. (1998). Logo. In P. Bouissac (Ed.), Encyclopedia of semiotics (pp. 373–375). Oxford University Press.
Iedema, R. (2001). Resemiotization. Semiotica, 137(1–4), 23–39. https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.2001.106
INGENIUM: European University. (2023). INGENIUM: European University. https://ingenium-university.eu/
Javaid Jamil, M., & Imtiaz Asif, S. (2023). The visual rhetoric of images: An exploration of visual rhetorical figures in digital advertising. PalArch’s Journal of Archeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 20(1), 119–141.
Järlehed, J., & Jaworski, A. (2015). Typographic landscaping: Creativity, ideology, movement. Social Semiotics, 25(2), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2015.1010318
Keeling, R. (2006). The Bologna process and the Lisbon research agenda: The European Commission’s expanding role in higher education discourse. European Journal of Education: Research, Development and Policy, 41(2), 203–223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-3435.2006.00256.x
Kress, G., & Leeuwen, van Th. (2021). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003099857
Kupferschmid, I. (2015). Between frutigerization and tradition: Diversity, standardization, and readability in contemporary typographic landscapes. Social Semiotics, 25(2), 151–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2015.1010319
Ledin, P., & Machin, D. (2018). Doing visual analysis: From theory to practice. Sage Academic Books. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529793529
Ledin, P., & Machin, D. (2016). Management discourse in university administrative documents in Sweden: How it recontextualizes and fragments scholarly practices and work processes. Pragmatics, 26(4), 653–674. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.26.4.06led
Lelis, C., Leitão, S., Mealha, Ó., & Dunning, B. (2022). Typography: The constant vector of dynamic logos. Visual Communication, 21(1), 146–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357220966775
Leeuwen, van Th. (2011). The language of colour: An introduction. Routledge.
Leeuwen, van Th. (2006). Towards a semiotics of typography. Information Design Journal, 14(2), 139–155. https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.14.2.06lee
Machin, D. (2007). Introduction to multimodal analysis. Bloomsbury USA.
Machin, D. (2013). What is multimodal critical discourse studies? Critical Discourse Studies, 10(4), 347–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2013.813770
Messaris, P. (2012). Visual “Literacy” in the digital age. Review of Communication, 12(2), 101–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2011.653508
Molek-Kozakowska, K. (2024). Legitimizing the interventions recommended in “European Research Area Policy Agenda 2022–2024”: A study of persuasive presuppositions. Journal of Language and Politics. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.23043.mol
Molek-Kozakowska, K., & Kampka, A. (2021). Creative reconstructions of political imagery in an Instagram-based election campaign: Implications for visual rhetorical literacy. Creativity Studies, 14(2), 307–322. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2021.14524
Molek-Kozakowska, K., & Kampka, A. (2023). Multimodality toolkit for political discourse analysis: A focus on visual rhetoric. In P. Cap (Ed.), Handbook of political discourse (pp. 235–249). Edward Elgar Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800373570.00024
Morrissey, J. (2013). Governing the academic subject: Foucault, governmentality and the performing university. Oxford Review of Education, 39(6), 797–810. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2013.860891
Ravelli, L. J., & Leeuwen, van Th. (2018). Modality in the digital age. Visual Communication, 17(3), 277–297. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357218764436
Riel, van C. B. M., & Balmer, J. M. T. (1997). Corporate identity: The concept, its measurement and management. European Journal of Marketing, 31(5–6), 340–355. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090569710167574
Schunz, S. (2022). The “European Green Deal” – A paradigm shift? Transformations in the European Union’s sustainability meta-discourse. Political Research Exchange: An ECPR Journal, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2474736X.2022.2085121
Tatyyeva, Zh., & Zagidullina, A. (2023). Comparative discourse analysis of Kazakhstani universities’ organisational identity. Discourse and Communication, 17(4), 494–521. https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813231163092
Transform4Europe. (2023). Transform4Europe. https://transform4europe.eu/
Una Europa. (2023). Una Europa. https://www.una-europa.eu/
UNIGreen: The Green European University. (2023). UNIGreen: The Green European University. https://unigreen-alliance.eu/
Unite! University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering. (2023). Unite! University network for innovation, technology and engineering. https://www.unite-university.eu/
Wheeler, A. (2009). Designing brand identity: An essential guide for the whole branding team. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Wu, Y. Q., & Yin Mei Cheong, C. (2022). Academic visual identity of higher education institutions: A multimodal communication through pictorial representations. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 22(2), 236–260. https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2022-2202-13