After several months of planning, meetings, community surveys, and brainstorming, Richmond leaders are considering a proposed new brand identity for the city.
The Common Council contracted in February with the Cleveland, Ohio-based firm Guide Studio to come up with a new look. The proposal was unveiled this week.
"We came up with the idea that there is a bridge in every journey," explained Mollie Mytinger, design consultant. "For that, we came up with this logo mark that represents a welcoming, kind, strong, historic, supportive, hard-working, authentic, and comfortable Richmond. You can start to see that with that arch shape of the typography, showing that strong sense of community."
The logo, she said, is designed to work in black and white, or using a color palette of blue, red, and yellow. The design is meant to work in full color, or as a standalone in a single color from the palette.
Along with the "Richmond" word logo, the firm created brand marks drawn from the city's history. They include a rose, trumpet, piano, and star.
"One thing we heard a lot in our research was this idea that art meets industry, and so you can really start to see how that plays together with the use of the trumpet, the piano, the star, and the rose," said Mytinger.
Project Manager Erica Deutsch says a brand is more than just a logo. "It's a symbolic embodiment of all that you have to offer," she told council members.
A steering committee of Richmond employees was created to come up with brand objectives and work with Guide Studio. The group met with department heads and conducted focus groups with community members and stakeholders, like small business owners. Two public surveys received nearly 1,000 responses, Deutsch added.
"These are the things that rose to the surface. ... Richmond is a city on the rise, offering expanding employment opportunities; diverse and appealing housing, from contemporary urban lofts to classic single family homes; and enhanced transportation networks," said Deutsch.
She said they also heard how Richmond is a community that cares, with kindness and community spirit defining daily life.
"We heard this over and over and over again in our discovery meetings, that if somebody needed something, there was a neighbor to help out, or if somebody was raising funds for a certain issue, people are backing it up."
She said people were passionate about the city's rich jazz history and rose gardens, too. And, of course, "location, location, location."
"You guys have a really great location to a lot of bigger cities and many airports. Travel is easy from here, so it's a good location," she concluded.
Using that research, she said the firm landed on three themes that resonated with people:
- A location with options
- Opportunity knocks
- History is just the beginning
Council members will now consider the proposal. They offered little feedback immediately following the presentation.
If approved, Deutsch said the next steps would be planning for implementation, including developing a brand launch kit, creating templates, and compiling a brand style guide.
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