Creating a unique brand and visual identity for Eurovision 2023, hosted in the UK on behalf of a war-torn Ukraine, celebrating the power of music to bring people together, with 160 million hearts beating as one.

Eurovision 2023

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#### In brief

In February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. In May 2022 Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest. 

This was a victory that celebrated Ukraine’s outstanding performance, with millions of people from 39 nations coming together in a show of support. With Ukraine unable to host Eurovision 2023 in a time of war, the UK offered to host the contest in the city of Liverpool on behalf of the winners. In an act of unity that reflects the founding spirit of Eurovision.

We worked with the Eurovision team, BBC Creative, and Ukrainian studio, Starlight Creative, to develop a unique identity theme that celebrates the power of music, recognises the unprecedented nature of this year’s event, and captures the singular shared cultural experience that this event brings to the world.

#### What we did

Creating a sense of unity has always been at the heart of Eurovision. Now in its 67th year, the contest was first established in the wake of World War II to bring European nations closer together through a shared televised experience. Today, Eurovision is the biggest live TV and online event in the world, bringing together an audience of 160 million people. Months of national competitions culminate in a full week of musical celebration, with nine arena shows, which also make it the world’s biggest live music event.

In 2023 with a new war in Europe, Eurovision’s founding spirit of togetherness will have to shine more than ever. 

With the unprecedented circumstances surrounding this year’s contest, our challenge was to develop a theme and a visual identity that expresses the spirit of Eurovision, the partnership between Ukraine and the UK and all the competing nations, and celebrates the power of music for millions of people around the world. 

The theme, United by Music, was developed to evoke the unifying ethos of Eurovision, an answer to the complexity of the brief and the focus for the visual identity. Working closely with BBC Creative and Starlight, our strategy was to create an identity that is unique to experiencing music live – the excitement, the tensions and the drama and joy that you don’t want to miss. 

The empathy and emotion surrounding this year’s unique event created a perfect moment to connect the creative idea more strongly to the established Eurovision brand and bring new meaning to its iconic heart symbol of the Eurovision marque. 

Our approach was singular and confident, born from a unique insight – research showing that when experiencing live music together, human hearts physically synchronise to beat in unison. This insight inspired a creative idea that expresses the theme of United by Music and reflects the scale of the global audience of the event: *160 million hearts beat as one.* 

The visual expression for Eurovision 2023 is a sound wave of many hearts that beat together as one. The angle of the hearts echoes the iconic heart shape from the official Eurovision logo, with a concept that is as culturally relevant and accessible in the UK and Ukraine as it is across the world, with graphics adaptable to all the flag colours of all 37 competing nations. The palette is a vibrant, celebratory interpretation of the Ukraine and UK flag colours. The typeface is ‘Penny Lane’, designed by a Liverpool-born typographer who grew up in the era of the Beatles. It’s inspired by the city street signs, and reminiscent of the bold, condensed style of typographic music posters. Copywriting pays playful homage to Liverpool’s famous song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. 

Following the official launch on 31st January #Eurovision2023 trended on Twitter in the UK at #1.  When tickets released on 7th March the Grand Final sold out in 36 minutes, with all 54,000 tickets across nine live shows selling out within 90 minutes.

This is the first time that all nine Eurovision shows have sold out on the first day. According to the BBC, Eurovision 2023 reached record-breaking figures, with 162 million people across 38 European countries tuning in over the three live shows. 

The Grand Final on 13th May became the most-watched final in Eurovision history, totalling 40.9% of the viewing share (more than double the broadcast channel’s viewing average). In the UK, an average of 9.9 million people in the UK — 63% share of UK viewers, and a 12% increase from 2022 — tuned in to watch Loreen of Sweden win the contest, while a third of markets claimed over 50% of the viewing share during the Final, with 98.7% in Iceland.

YouTube and TikTok enjoyed online engagement of 15.6 million views, and videos of the event were watched 540 million times on social channels — nearly double the amount seen in 2022.

The day after the Grand Final, the official Eurovision Song Contest 2023 playlist became the most-streamed Spotify playlist globally.

> “The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be a truly special event and the creative look is a big part of creating that magic. This year's identity sums up perfectly the amazing partnerships across the Contest and more importantly the power of music to bring people together across the world.”
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> *— Martin Green CBE, Managing Director of Eurovision Song Contest 2023, BBC*

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> “We are thrilled to create the 67th Eurovision Song Contest visual identity in partnership with Ukrainian agency, Starlight, and the BBC. For this year's theme, United By Music, our solution was inspired by research showing that when experiencing live music together, human hearts synchronise to beat in unison. This insight led to the creative concept of 160 million hearts beating as one, an idea that captures the universal spirit of Eurovision.”
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> *— Stuart Radford, Executive Creative Director, and Katherina Tudball, Creative Director, at Design Bridge and Partners*

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> “Creativity and music both have the power to unite and inspire. We are so proud to be part of the creative concept for such an important musical event when more than ever, we need to come together as a global community. For Starlight, it is an opportunity to represent Ukraine on an international stage, showcase our creative and musical ability, and create something that honours our strength and the power of unity.”
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> *— Olena Martynova, Starlight Creative*


Working with BBC Creative and Ukrainian creative studio, Starlight Creative, we designed a vibrant, wider identity that celebrates the power of music, recognises the unprecedented nature of this year’s event, and captures the singular shared cultural experience that Eurovision brings to the world. Inspired by insight that experiencing live music together synchronises heart beats, our identity is an expression of unity, with 160 million hearts beating as one, and a declaration that music binds us all.

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Design Bridge and Partners | Eurovision

Superunion and Design Bridge come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

Design Bridge and Superunion come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

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Eurovision 2023

Creating a unique brand and visual identity for Eurovision 2023, hosted in the UK on behalf of a war-torn Ukraine, celebrating the power of music to bring people together, with 160 million hearts beating as one.