European
Capital of
Culture

I was among a few designers invited to contribute a design for the branding of Istanbul as the European Capital of Culture. The first mark I designed consists of a crescent and a star joined together to create a figure raising its arm in a friendly gesture of greeting.

The second is an off-centre version of the traditional chintamani motif which represents Ottoman sovereignty over three continents and two seas. In this version I allude to the silhouette of the city: three buildings—Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet Mosque—based at the tip of the historical peninsula, underlined by the waves of the Bosphorus.