City reveals new logo and brand promise to ‘make a difference’
The City of Guelph unveils its new brand today, and highlights the brand’s most prominent component: the visual identity, including a new logo, tagline and colour palette.
The logo, which can be seen at www.guelph.ca/brand represents Guelph’s converging rivers and the community’s strong sense of energy, creativity, responsibility, flow and progress. Its bold, vibrant and timeless colours depict Guelph’s respect for the environment and the natural world. The design and typography have been developed with a focus on clean lines and simplicity.
The slogan – Making a Difference – defines Guelph as a passionate and innovative community. A direct tie-in to the City’s recently-launched Strategic Plan, the slogan conveys Guelph’s desire to make a positive impact both locally and globally.
“Guelph wants to build a brand that lets the world know it is progressive, innovative, creative, cultural, and committed to environmental preservation,” says Guelph’s mayor, Karen Farbridge. “Our city has history, attractions, excellent employment opportunities and natural beauty. This logo effectively communicates these features.”
John Kissick, Director, School of Fine Art and Music at the University of Guelph, agrees. He says Guelph’s new logo is “refreshing and very much in keeping with the city’s image as a vibrant, dynamic place. The logo’s strength is in its simplicity and clean design. It has very strong sense of readability and imparts a spirit that is contemporary and lively. It’s all there!”
The new brand is the result of an eight-month process, including dozens of interviews and focus groups, hundreds of online responses from residents, polls in the community, and best-practices research. The result is one strong brand that captures the city’s history, quality of place, lifestyle, culture and diversity.
Doug MacMillan of MacMillan Marketing Group, the City’s brand consultant, explains, “Municipalities worldwide are undergoing significant change and are focusing more on marketing and branding both for residents and external audiences. A strong brand is an important element of a city’s competitiveness and appeal. It is important that Guelph be distinctive, perceived as a progressive and professional city. The visual identity – the logo – is integral to this positioning. Part of the work of designing a new visual identity for Guelph was striking a balance that people said was fundamental: Guelph’s rich history and ‘small town feel’, and its reputation for innovation and forward-thinking.”
Guelph’s Chief Administrative Officer, Hans Loewig, points out that positioning Guelph as an exceptional city is an ongoing process, and isn’t limited to a new logo. “The work that lies ahead involves evolving the brand and Guelph’s image into a ‘quality of place.’ We’ll be working to build brand loyalty, essential to a city’s survival, and we’ll do it in a way that’s strategic and fiscally responsible.”
Guelph begins its branding strategy on the heels of the most comprehensive public consultation process Guelph has ever led. That process revealed the foundation of Guelph’s new Strategic Plan and, by extension, provided important background in developing its new brand.