What could Visalia’s new logo look like? Committee inches closer to recommending finalists
The City of Visalia’s Brand Refresh logo redesign process open call drew almost 100 artwork submissions entries, but which entries will be sent to the city council – and how much the winner will get – is still up in the air.
The five-person committee appointed by the council to narrow the entries and determine a prize will meet again on Wednesday to make a final decision.
The submissions, which must meet the redesign process guidelines, were assigned a number with the names of the submitters to remain anonymous to the city council and the logo redesign process committee during the process, so votes are based solely on design.
Five logos – entries No. 7, 34, 35, 56, and 59 – were selected Monday night. Those will be reviewed Wednesday for a “fresh” perspective before the committee makes its final choice.
Committee member Raymond Macareno said it was a difficult choice to whittle the entries because “although there’s a lot of great artwork here” some of them might not fit everything that the city intends to use the logo for.
As an example, the committee was concerned about the use of the logos in black and white directing staff to request black-and-white versions of the potential logos for review on Wednesday.
Committee member Nick Miller reminded the committee that its responsibility was to make a “pile” of their recommendation to a larger group of people who will make the final decision.
Based on what was shown on Monday night at the Visalia Convention Center, entries range from “cartoonish” to very similar to the Legacy Logo.
A little over a dozen people showed up Monday night and got the opportunity to see all the entries. While the public didn’t share aloud their views to the committee on each of the entries, some said among themselves that they hated some of the submissions overall.
Other members of the committee include Lauren Walters, Mary Jo Eastes, and Carrie Groover.
Walters said the proposed list of entries to review on Wednesday does not look a list of the same thing, “which I think is good.”
City spokeswoman Allison M. Mackey said there were a total of 87 submissions.
“Some submissions had multiple logos so that’s why we numbered them with a number and a letter. Some submissions had just one logo file. Some submission included in color and in black-and-white,” said Mackey.
“We know there was quite a robust community conversation surrounding the process, so our hope was that everyone who was interested, whether they had a background in art, or it was a hobby, or this was something that they wanted to try the first time, would submit,” Mackey said, adding that staff was excited to have received almost 100 entries.
One of the many logo design guidelines includes that the logo should be a reimagining of the “Breaking Through the V logo” with a strong V design element clearly visible with the word Visalia in or at the bottom.
The “Breaking Through the V” logo, which was unveiled in May and was part of a $150,000 cost that included a recruitment strategy, was received negative by the community leading to an intense and widespread public outcry on social media.
Wednesday’s meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Visalia Convention Center, Ballroom D and is open to the public.
The committee’s selections will go to the community for feedback starting on the following Monday.
The final logo – which will complement the Legacy Logo – chosen by the city council will become property of the city and if the winner entry submitter doesn’t agree to the terms of the transferring right, title and interest in the artwork, another submission will be selected, according to city staff.
