Owen Sound – where you want to live.
That’s the City’s new motto, unveiled at Monday night’s City Council meeting.
E-Solutions of Waterloo was contracted to help the city develop a new brand for itself — with a new logo and motto.
The logo is a simple green and blue design of the two words of the city’s name, inspired by Tom Thomson and intended to represent the Niagara Escarpment and Georgian Bay.
Creative Director Saj Jamal says the new motto is a simple, emotional declaration that forces people who already live here to remember why they chose to do so.
Manager of Economic Development Steve Furness hopes residents will tell those stories and help convince others that they belong here too.
Council unanimously approved the logo.
Councillor Peter Lemon calls it “clean” and a reflection of the city moving ahead while Councillor Deb Haswell feels it’s “terrific.”
The new branding replaces an old logo — a much-criticized blue and pink design of two birds flying over a river.
You can find the old logo on the City’s website, stationery, uniforms worn by staff members, vehicles and entrance signs.
Furness notes this is the first phase of a 44 thousand dollar branding strategy that is being subsidized by the province through the Rural Economic Development program.
This first phase cost 16 thousand dollars — about half of which was paid by the City.
The next phases will include a marketing strategy and a community profile that can be posted online, helping to attract businesses and people to Owen Sound.
