Corporate branding for the Town was up before Council at Monday night’s meeting, the last for this term of Council. In contrast to the branding’s first kick-at-the-can in June, this time there was little discussion or comment from Council, and the hired branding consultants were nowhere to be seen.
Town Staff made presentations to Council about the new round of branding that proposed the revised logo, with variations of the logo to include the “Friendly By Nature” tagline.
Director of Community Services Sarah Sweeney told Council that Staff had engaged a local graphic artist to work on the revised options following the June meeting. She said the artist had previously worked on Town projects, was familiar with the community and that the work completed was original.
Christina Davidson, Communications Lead for the Town, said the recommendation reflected nearly two years of community engagement, stakeholder consultation and Council feedback. She reiterated that Staff worked with a local designer to refine the revised concepts, which were then evaluated by Council, with the recommended logo receiving the strongest support.
Councillor Davoli questioned what had been done to ensure the proposed logo was sufficiently unique and would not be confused with another organization’s design. Davidson said STC, the design firm awarded the original $54,324.75 contract, had conducted extensive research, but acknowledged she could not speak to the exact process used, while saying she was fairly confident there was nothing else like it.
That issue is notable given a written resident delegation submitted to Council on the matter pointed out a very similar logo that could be purchased online for about $10 USD.
Before the final vote, Councillor Charrois asked what would happen if Council rejected the proposal, CAO Sarah Kim stated it would be up to the next Council to decide whether to bring the branding project back.
After the short discussion, the motion to adopt and move forward with the branding was defeated by Council.
Yeas to Branding: Councillors Davoli, Howe and Mayor Jordan
Nays to Branding: Councillors Freake, Vardy, Charrois, DiFlavio and Baradziej
Councillor Korstanje was not present for the vote.
With this branding project now dead for this term of Council, the result leaves significant questions for taxpayers. With STC’s original branding rejected in June, revised concepts subsequently developed and rejected as well, beyond the public consultation and research, what did Grimsby ultimately receive for its $54,324.75 contract with STC and what did the Town learn from this exercise?