Pentagram creates logo for Austin based on its "natural beauty"
Design agency Pentagram has created a new city logo for Austin, Texas, USA composed of green and blue arches representative of the surrounding landscape, which was reportedly leaked early and has drawn criticism.
The logo is part of a larger $1.1 million rebranding effort by the city of Austin to establish a consolidated graphic identity for its governmental services, which was designed by Pentagram in collaboration with local studio TKO Advertising.
The city's current logo was based on a coat-of-arms design submitted for a flag contest in 1916, but a comprehensive graphic identity was never established and as such, numerous, smaller logos popped up over the years.
"The City of Austin, which provides important services for its residents, has never had a real identity system since its founding nearly 200 years ago," said Pentagram partner DJ Stout, who led the project with a local Pentagram team.
"Because of that, there are over 300 logo variations out there, presenting a very disjointed and chaotic brand identity for this growing, modern city."
The new logo is composed of two intersecting arches that form a sloping "A" and recall Austin's "natural beauty" according to Stout.
The blue, foreground arch represents "the city's abundant water resources, including the Colorado River and Barton Springs", while the green symbolises Austin's placement at the beginning of Texas' verdant Hill Country.
Beneath the logo, an Austin wordmark was created using the serif Museo Slab. According to Fast Company, it was chosen for its slightly Western and authoritative stylisation
The logo has already received criticism on social media, but Pentagram chose to settle on the city's landscape after more traditional Western and governmental motifs – such as a red, white and blue palette – were rejected by local focus groups.
Stout attributed the lack of support for a more formal design to Austin's liberal political leanings in a mostly conservative state.
"Austin is very independent-minded and a 'blue island' in a mostly red state," he said. "Austin is the capital of the state of Texas, but the comprehensive identity system we designed is specifically for Austin's municipal government, not the state."
Additionally, a "single, lo-res, badly reproduced logo" was also "maliciously" leaked early to the public, according to Stout, which may have contributed to the criticisms.
"The identity system still hasn’t been officially launched, so there's a ton of misinformation and rumors out there in the social media quagmire," said Stout.
"We all knew that no matter what was shown to the public it would be controversial and hotly debated because Austin has never had a brand identity, but these unfortunate circumstances have made it worse."
Recently, American food chain Cracker Barrel overhauled its logo, which was quickly rescinded by the company following online backlash. Other companies, such as Google and Walmart, have taken a more subtle approach.
The images are courtesy of Pentagram
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