Styles of Communication, Vol 4, No 1 (2012)

Abstract

Since 1983 the European syntagm “unity in diversity” has been implemented in the European Years’ communication campaigns. Dependent on subsidiarity and decentralization, European Years focus on a specific issue which constitutes the subject of a year-long awareness campaign. Beyond the involvement of Europe’s citizens through their local, regional and national authorities in the implementation of the European Years’ policies, there is a unity at the level of the visual communication of the EU by two important image-building elements: EY logos and communication toolboxes. The European Years’ communication toolboxes can be considered signs of inclusion since every organization is expected to customize the templates in the official campaign design of the European Year. The analysis will focus on the image-building elements of three European Years (2010, 2011, 2012). Having social semiotics as the qualitative research method and the analytical framework based on the distinction between design resources and representational resources, I will analyze the double layers of the high intensity point of inclusion: (1) the European Years’ branding process; (2) the visual deontic modality within the visual guidelines of the EY communication toolbox.