City unveils new branding

The city of Painesville has undergone a makeover with the unveiling of a new citywide logo and branding.

The change comes as part of the city’s ongoing attempts to combat negative perceptions of the city and to engage residents, according to city Communication Coordinator Kathleen Sullivan.

She also said that City Council’s belief is that many of the adverse opinions stemmed from a lack of communication rather than poor policy making.

“There was a disconnect between what was happening and what residents thought was happening,” she said. “The city had an image problem within itself.”

To bridge the gap between the real and the imagined, local graphic design firm Paine was hired to better understand Painesville’s identity.

Together, city officials, business owners, and residents took part in multiple focus groups and conducted over 600 online surveys before any preliminary designs were drafted.

“We wanted to base all the research on actual residents and business owners,” Sullivan said.

“People are very proud that they’re different,” she said of the community’s responses. “They know they’re eclectic. They’re proud to be Painesville. They really love the history of the city but they also want to move forward. We’re a diverse community and we don’t want to sweep that under the rug. We want to embrace that.”

Painesville City Hall’s spired dome remains the focal point of the redesign but is now displayed as part of a badge that simplifies what came before while adding a level of aesthetic symmetry to their branding.

The city used the same color green in the new brand as they had in its predecessor. This was done to signify a bridge to the past into the future, as well as an acknowledgment of the city’s abundance of parks and trees, according to Sullivan.

Gone is the gold secondary color, replaced now with a light teal which was designed to match the color of the Lake County Courthouse’s domed roof in downtown Painesville Square.

Forming a circular line around the city hall in the new logo, the teal ring also signifies a future on the horizon, according to notes from the designers.

Focus group research indicated to officials that the cursive script which replaces the more rigid and formal typeface that previously graced city mastheads better reflects “the charm and character of old shop signs and historic photos.”

Preliminary promotional material includes the tagline “Welcome to our city” along with “Eat. Work. Shop. Play.” featured below it.

As indicated in previous talks, Sullivan noted no money will be spent to replace old city logos, rather, going forward all subsequent logos will reflect the change.

“They know they’re eclectic. They’re proud to be Painesville. They really love the history of the city but they also want to move forward. We’re a diverse community and we don’t want to sweep that under the rug. We want to embrace that.” — Communication Coordinator Kathleen Sullivan