The town of Eberswalde in Brandenburg has unveiled a new look to conform to modern design norms. The old design, created in the 1990s, was deemed outdated and inconsistent by the municipal government. The new logo, designed with the idea of “Rooted in Tradition and Always Looking Forward,” features a stylized wild boar named “Ewald.” This design will serve as the main visual representation of the local administration and will be used in advertisements related to tourism.
The redesign project, supported by federal and state funds from Brandenburg under the joint project “Improving Regional Economic Structures,” aims to give Eberswalde a unified and appealing identity. The city’s official website, eberswalde.de, has already been updated with the new design, while the tourism website, tourism-eberswalde.de, still uses the old layout.
The minimalist logo of the former corporate design, created by AdlerSchmidt, consisted of three horizontal stripes forming the letter “E.” An animated and friendly depiction of a wild boar has replaced this. According to the municipality, “The boar shapes the appearance of the Eberswalde brand and is a true ambassador of friendliness, dynamism, and a touch of authentic nonconformity, much like our city.”
The former blue and green color scheme has been replaced with shades of green, creating a clean, contemporary look when combined with white backgrounds and black text. The Munich-based design firm INTO Branding was involved in this overhaul.
The release of Eberswalde’s new logo, featuring a wild boar, follows a trend in other cities such as Greifswald, Wolfsburg, and Salzburg, where local qualities are reflected in city emblems. Although wild boars may not immediately spring to mind as friendly animals, they are excellent representations of intelligence, compassion, adaptability, curiosity, toughness, and defensiveness—qualities highly valued in human society.
Ewald, the wild boar emblem, is a remarkable, unique, and defining symbol. While the boar was largely buried in the old corporate design, it is now the main feature of the new branding. This change highlights the city’s distinct personality and is expected to have a long-lasting impact.
With Ewald at its center, Eberswalde’s new design achieves the distinctive qualities needed to create a memorable brand. While the previous logo’s three-bar shape was compact and adaptable to different uses, the new logo’s lively and humorous style presents a fresh perspective. Rather than modifying the current style, embracing a new visual identity reflects strategic choices to better position the city.
Introducing the new corporate design emphasizes maintaining a consistent visual identity. Over time, lax adherence to previous design principles may have resulted in inconsistent visual representations of the city. Effective design management ensures all agencies and external service providers follow a consistent visual strategy. Without this oversight, other agencies might add new components, colors, and typefaces, leading to a fragmented and inconsistent appearance.
The new visual identity for Eberswalde, featuring Ewald as the central character, is designed to resist misuse and non-conforming adaptations while being flexible enough to adapt to the demands of new media. These characteristics are essential for maintaining a recognizable visual identity over time.
