Council went with majority of public opinion
Apparently, Bridgewater residents have an eye for professionally made art.
Council has finally decided on a new logo to represent the town, with the help of residents’ recommendations.
“It’s not my favourite logo, but apparently [in] the poll that was taken the majority of people chose that for the town of Bridgewater, and, being the democratic type of guy that I am, I will support that,” said Deputy Mayor Bill McInnis, who made the motion April 13 to endorse the recommendation from the branding committee to support the new logo and its guidelines as the town’s visual identity. A related request of $5,000 to kick off the rebranding campaign over the next 12 months will be considered during 2015-16 budget deliberations.
One logo was developed as part of the downtown waterfront master plan process and Councillor Andrew Tanner arranged the creation of two alternative options. In the end, the professionally produced design by the graphic arm of Ekistics Plan + Design, Form:Media, was favoured.
At a town council meeting in March, at which this decision was to be made, council asked the town’s branding committee and staff to ask the public for its opinion on the pieces through social media.
There were 163 surveys submitted on-line within two weeks. The survey asked participants to rank four options in order of personal preference: the three logo concepts and the option of having additional funds committed to further brand development. The survey said 70 per cent of respondants ranked the Form:Media logo as their first or second choice and 33 per cent ranked it as their preferred choice. However, “66 per cent made it clear they didn’t want to see any more money dedicated to further revisiting brand development,”said Patrick Hirtle, who presented this information to council.
The rebranding initiative is part of the town’s attempt to update itself and attract new residents. If the rebranding campaign is included in the budget this year, the rollout will include an initial phasing-in process of new materials including the logo as old materials run out.
“To a degree, I say professional designers in tune with today’s market and what is good promotion have made a recommendation and I’ll endorse that,” said Mayor David Walker. “It will be [a] conversation piece. I’m even looking forward to people saying, ‘What does that logo mean?’”
As originally published in LighthouseNOW Progress Bulletin
Kelsey Power 