Folkeuniversitetet had the reputation, the reach and the impact. What it did not have was a visual expression that matched how modern adult learning works today. After the acquisition by Lingu, the brand needed to feel digital, open and contemporary, while keeping the familiar owl and colours that generations of Norwegians already trusted.

The brief came with one non-negotiable: keep the owl. It had been on buildings, diplomas and course brochures for decades. People recognised it instantly. Our job was to connect this legacy symbol with Lingu’s more modern, innovative attitude, and make the combined identity work for thousands of students, teachers and staff across every touchpoint.

AI helped us where exploration is expensive: generating families of expressive letterforms and early mascot imagery that we later redrew by hand. It saved days of illustration work and opened visual options quickly. The actual decisions—art direction, typography, UX/UI and the final look of the identity—were made by the design team, not by the model.

Folkeuniversitetet now looks like what it already is: a serious institution that is not stuck in the past. The new identity is more open, contemporary and visually distinct, without losing the recognisable owl or the sense of trust built over 150 years. After launch, the in-house team used the system to drive strong campaigns and a refreshed web presence. Heritage stayed intact; everything else moved forward.