Town council in long debate over details of new logo
Separate council deliberation centred on whether town was ‘born to make history’
Lighthouse or buoy? Railroad tracks or the Underground Railroad’s North Star? How about a big A?
Amherstburg council asked for a simplified logo but the two-hour discussion earlier this week on a new marketing tool was anything but simple.
“You went through a gruelling exercise. We put you through nearly hell and you have held up so well,” Coun. Michael Prue told consultants from Cinnamon Toast New Media Inc. on Monday. The recommended design is a vertical rectangle with a lighthouse, waves, railroad tracks, a tree in the middle and a building with sunshine semicircles above it. Council decided to rejig the logo by adding a buoy and the North Star. Also, council rejected the tag line Born to Make History.
Early in the meeting councillors talked about not picking any of the four logos. Coun. Peter Courtney called the recommended design boxy and busy. It was the least preferred option for both tourists and residents in a small survey. In January, council asked that the original logo with the lighthouse be simplified and that all the logos created be presented to the public in a meeting and a survey, as well as to the town’s heritage, and parks and recreation committees. About 47 per cent of residents in a survey liked a different logo with a large A, but it was considered sporty and it didn’t reflect historic Amherstburg.
“It was a tough decision because we were close to saying we don’t want any of them,” Coun. Donald McArthur said of the parks and recreation committee’s recommendation for the big A. Cinnamon Toast New Media Inc. had been hired for about $76,000 last year by the previous council to create Amherstburg ’s branding strategy, including a website and a logo. The new council was afraid not picking something would waste money. McArthur said the idea of rebranding scared people. The logo is a tool to promote tourism and its cost is about $15,000 of the $76,000, CAO John Miceli said. The Amherstburg crest, which dates back to 1982, is not being replaced and will remain on town vehicles, he said. Cinnamon Toast New Media Inc. CEO and Creative Director Bronwyn Mondoux said creating a website and marketing plan without a logo would be like building a home without an architect. She said the A was a safe choice but the firm’s recommended design was a foundation to tell a beautiful story. So the logo debate began.
If the only lighthouse in Amherstburg is in disrepair on Boblo Island, should there be a lighthouse or a buoy in the logo?
Did the railroad tracks look like a social media hashtag ? Do tracks represent the Underground Railroad which wasn’t a railroad? What about the North Star to represent slaves escaping at night? Mondoux said she loved the symbolism of the North Star but feared a star over a house — an abstract representation of the Freedom Museum and the town’s Georgian architecture — would look “religious” like a star over a nativity scene. Deputy Mayor Leo Meloche wanted the railroad tracks out and a buoy in as the heritage committee recommended. Prue agreed and made a motion to remove the tracks and sun rays from a logo that already had a buoy and add the North Star. That motion passed. “Born to Make History” birthed a separate debate. “I just detest those words,” said Prue who argued it sounded like Amherstburg was ordained by God to make history.
Other phrases tossed about Monday included “Making History Together,” “Forged by History,” “History’s Calling,” “Historically Hip,” and “Building on History.” Still Making History was rejected because it’s already used by Salem, Mass.