2.08.2010

Regina's New Brand...

...went live today. Here's the website. I give it a "B+" and I'm picky as all crap with this kind of stuff. Our designer's take: "hm, it's good." One member of our fun little gang hates the ribbony "R" but he's just wrong, so too bad for him. The tagline "Infinite Horizons" is quite good, even if it kind of suggests urban sprawl. But as long as we don't start suddenly scheduling bus routes to Harbour landing Wal-Marts it'll all be fine. (Ha. Such a silly thing would never happen.)

Cities, provinces and countries need brands so the can promote themselves to attract new residents and investment. $400K well spent, I says.
(This post was updated Feb. 11)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

My personal opinion, as a graphic designer in a print shop, is that this logo is terrible. Unless they've seriously tweaked the version in black and white, it'll be illegible at smaller sizes and be difficult to translate into screenprinting and vinyl graphics. If you have to resort to several colours and translucent effects in your logo...maybe it's not that great to start with.

Stephen Whitworth said...

There's a black and white version too. There are usage parameters that should prevent it being used at tiny sizes. I'm pretty sure prairie dog's print quality could handle it and we're on newsprint.

Dakota said...

Is this replacing the "I Heart Regina more than NYC" branding?

Because if so, then good.

... Wascana Park could beat Central Park in a knife fight any day.

Stephen Whitworth said...

If I understand correctly "I Heart Regina" (IHR) was never developed as a full brand so there's nothing to be replaced. This is the City's brand now. At the press conference Regina Regional Opportunities Commission's Larry Hiles said IHR was popular in the surveys they did and it could be continued if the community wants to. But Infinite Horizons is Regina's official brand.

(So my conclusion is yes, this will totally replace "I Heart Regina".)

Amy said...

I was told that the graphic design was done by a Winnipeg design shop, which is kind of shocking and insulting given the design talent in Regina... Can anyone confirm?

Stephen Whitworth said...

It was indeed done by McKim out of Winnipeg. Their website is http://www.mckimcg.ca/.

Martin G said...

If branding is so important for cities why do I want to go to such places as Portland, Halifax, Tokyo, Paris, Nantes, Casablanca, Cairo, Madison, Stockholm, St.Petersberg and Buenos Aries, to name a few, yet I have no idea what their official brands are (I'm sure they have them). I just can't figure out why I would want to visit such places without knowing their civic song, the colours of their corporate logo or their snazy tag line.

In the LP http://www.leaderpost.com/news/City+image/2525309/story.html Larry Hiles compares his exercise to global corperate branding inititives; ie, hoping our new ribbony 'R' will be the new 'Nike swoosh' of Western Canada.

Yes, the parade of Crown Life size companies, dragging office towers with them, as they march into the city to worshop at the ribbony 'R's that will be set along the city's entry-ways, is sure to come now.

Why would companies go to foolish places like Deadmonton 'City of Champions', or the 'Capital of the New West.' Such passe and political names give us an edge, with our inclusive, expanding and modern tag line. Perhaps a few daring international conglomerates will be beguiled by the 'mystery prize' that is Moose Jaw, it being so 'Surprisingly Unexpected' and all. Still any company with sense will want to come here now.

Well, sarcasm wont change the realities of the world. I'll just have to come to terms with nature of the modern capitalist city in the Western Hemisphere. While my brain is Re-educated maybe I can pass the time counting the number of funding increases or requests denied by the city to local service providers because the provincial government didn't give us our extra PST points.

I know the 400K wouldn't go far, indeed In December it was the Wascana Centre Authority looking for a few million who, denied because of lack of provincial funds, but I'll keep track in case of the unlikely senario.

Oh well, I suppose if I don't like I'll just have to move to Swift Current, because, surely the world knows by now, it's the place 'where life makes sense.'

Stephen Whitworth said...

Madison's great, you should definitely go--check out the Noodle House, Gino's pizza and the place that sells burritos as big as your head (I forget the name but they have this killer mural of tacos playing hockey on their wall).

To your question, I kinda think Regina is always going to have trouble competing with Tokyo, Paris, Nantes, Casablanca, Cairo, Stockholm, St.Petersberg and Buenos Aries (to name a few). We do have the potential to become a Portland, Halifax or Madison though. The key is immigration.

A solid brand used in external advertising will help bring dynamic people here. It tells the world we have at least some part of our shit together.

I know Saskatchewanians resist this fact, but marketing works. Good for Regina for doing this.

Barb Saylor said...

"Buenos Aires", for heaven's sake.
I'm no graphic designer, but I think that the new logo looks good, and it is preferable to the "twin towers", which promoted the Hills more than Regina, in my view. I agree with Stephen: marketing does work. Very few things, no matter how good, sell themselves.