DNCO rebrands Amsterdam’s business district as an urban village

The best branding exercises can transform your perception of a place – and that’s exactly what DNCO has achieved with its work in Amsterdam’s Zuidas neighbourhood. Here the London- and New York-based agency worked in partnership with property specialists Victory Group to challenge local perceptions of the precinct. The area, which is dominated by the former headquarters of the ABN AMRO bank, is now being transformed into a collection of new homes, workspaces and neighbourhood gardens.

“A big project such as this one needed to have immediate punch to communicate its bold vision, as well as have long-term impact as the vision comes to life,” says Simon Yewdall, strategy director at DNCO. “The aim for this branding exercise is to help transform Zuidas from a typical monocultural business district into somewhere that’s as varied and human as the rest of this city.”

To deliver on this vision, the DNCO team renamed the area “Zudo” – a neat portmanteau of Zuidas and the Dutch word for village, dorp. The firm worked with local type foundry Bold Decisions to create bespoke serif and sans-serif typefaces. The bold, stencil-like font emphasises the contrast between a corporate legacy and community-minded future in Zudo.

Tokyo-based illustrator Luis Mendo was employed to create imagery for everything from coasters to tote bags, revealing how the neighbourhood could look. “The illustrations show the layers and life of a village and how it can grow over time. We also developed a logo, which references how one monumental site is being opened up and turned into streets and squares,” says DNCO’s design director Katy Angus. “From a brand-design perspective, it needs to flex for different audiences to last and feel fresh over time. Our work needed to feel personable and capture the warm associations that Dutch people have with the idea of a village.” The result? A vision for a brighter future for Zuidas, something that all Amsterdammers can buy into.
dnco.com