Shropshire Council have chosen their new logo from a group of seven designs, all of which are shown below, along with accompanying comments from an article on the BBC website.
The shortlist had included three designs by schoolchildren in the county (numbers 1 to 3), and the chosen logo will be used from April 2009.
Logo number 1
The logo for Shropshire’s new unitary authority will be decided from a shortlist of seven on Wednesday. Logo number one came from Applied Art Group, represented by Matt Wright, Thomas Adams School, Wem.
Logo number 2
Logo number two was designed by Dan Macauley, Thomas Adams School, Wem.
Logo number 3
Logo number three was designed by Ben Bryan, Oldbury Wells School, Bridgnorth.
Logo number 4
Logo number four came from a design team at Shropshire County Council, which has also contributed three others on the shortlist.
Logo number 5
A panel of 29 councillors will meet to look at the logos, including the fifth option from a design team at Shropshire County Council.
Logo number 6
The meeting looking at the logos, including the sixth option from a design team at Shropshire County Council, will be at Shire Hall.
Logo number 7
Logo number seven also came from a design team at Shropshire County Council. The new authority will replace the county council and five district and borough councils in April 2009.
The value of choice
So 29 councillors were presented with three designs from school children, and one design (not four) from the council design team. Here’s the chosen design.
Why include school children?
I’m swayed by the inclusion of kids in design. On the one hand, they have imaginations that normally fade by the time we reach adulthood, and including one of their ideas could signify a focus on youth and the future. On the other hand, design that works isn’t something you can simply jump on a school computer to accomplish.
What I’d have loved to see was a series of ideas from school children taken on board by a designer or design team, and polished into a number of usable options.
It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
Comments
Shame on the so-called “design team” at Shropshire Council for unremarkable contributions that hardly deserve the description “design”. I presume that’s the existing coat of arms for the county that they’ve combined with that tightly kerned Gill Sans Light and positioned aloft a little more, this time too spaciously arranged. Shropshire farmers! Protect your flocks!
I love they way they call it modern, blahah ha ha ha… just by virtue of being ‘sky blue’.
Do you get the feeling they were going to choose ‘their design’ anyway with no intention of using any by the children.
I once did a design for a community project being led by a school where I was posted an envelope full of designs from the children for the new logo.
I pointed out to them three designs that I felt were best for professional conversion – they choose their favourite out of the three concepts and it was professionally rendered by me :)
I can dig them out and show them to you if you want.
There, I found them and posted them for you…
http://www.trulyace.com/pathfinder.html
Go easy on any logo critiquing, bear in mind I designed this four years ago now as a new designer from a primary school child’s idea ;) Excuses, excuses…
I think they aren’t too bad still four years later. I think the second one was the one we actually used.
I really think that they should have done something with the lowercase r in the type. It looks crushed and awkward. Some simple letterform modification could have gone a long way here.
The kids came up with the most innovative logos of the bunch.
They should’ve explored the green and blue lines from logo three to further develop their image.
It’s no surprise that they chose the logo they did. It’s predictable. However, they don’t yet realize the value of having a strong identity color tied with a recognizable icon.
Try comparing their crest to any traditional university icon, …can’t tell em apart.
What a great idea this is!
Short on ideas? Hire some kids! Offer up a spec contest to children, where, if you have even the basic understanding of design, you’re undoubtable a shoo-in. Not only will your design look more polished and refined, but you’ll come off as community minded, without any threat of losing business to the competition.
What a dull, unmemorable piece of drudge they chose. Despite the poor typography of the first three, they’re much better logos.
I played football against a bunch of ten year olds once. Needless to say I kicked their arses because I was much better that they were. In this case though, the kids’ designs look like they are absolutely freed from the constrains of what’s expected or what a council’s usual brand style will be. I think a design group making something professional from the kids’ ideas is an ideal solution. Presents a much better story than “Children enter contest, lose to pros”.
What we don’t know is the design brief given to the design team, as well as any of the first round of designs they put forward.
(I’m assuming the kids designed under a free for all, and the team was given client time)
What we are seeing is a shortlist, so I’d be curious to see what else we are not seeing.
Oh, and throw in any restrictions brought up during the many meetings between the Council and the design team.
(yeah, I’m jaded…)
But all in all, the Council chose a logo that won’t get them into trouble down the road.
Yes, it’s safe, but that’s what most Councils do. They play safe as a change in materials due to a screw up now, means a lot more money later.
So they have the mindset that a shrinking pot of money is better spent on what the community really needs.
So safe (in their eyes) saves money.
Btw – logo number 2 is quite clever as Shropshire is known to Geologists all over the world.
“It contains a myriad of rock types, and is widely regarded as the geological capital of the UK, with Wenlock Edge being especially highly regarded by geologists.”
But as their main source of income is tourism… they’d have to include it in some way.
I’ve seen several geology tourism pushes in Scotland, but none in England.
If they haven’t already put it in place, it might just be an idea to take on.
And compared to other tourist venues, they are easy to create, easy to manage, excellent for school outings…
David,
What a disappointment. #1 has potential, #2 is nearly there, and the winner is—the utterly conventional, completely lame, hidebound option.
Hats off to the kids. All of their designs are far more fresh than the stinker they chose.
By the way, I love a surprise ending like this one. Well played.
Regards,
Kelly
Like most people here I chose the logo I would have chosen and then clicked on the link to see the result and I nearly had a seizure !!! That logo should have never even made it to the council’s desk let alone considered an option !! It hurts your eyes and its soooo not there ! I mean why choose a 2 tone, reversed out style logo when you already have 2 colors of the emblem ? Also … from where did that sky blue come ? It has nothing to do with the emblem’s color either !
In my humble opinion, and from a designer perspective I would have chosen no 3, then no 2. They are by far superior in design and are extremely modern and eye catching. They also breathe new life and symbolize something fresh – which goes on perfectly well with the branding element of the council. Also, they are done by locals so its a further plus. From a more traditional perspective I would have chosen no 5.
Ironically Dave, its the same problem we had here in Malta. About 2 years ago, our government tried to brand Malta and an enormous campaign, running into a few million Euro was launched. The logo and the marketing was all handled by a foreign branding agency who never actually came to Malta to understand us and convey the feel into their logo. The result – a complete flop, waste of money and ridicule. But i guess that’s how the world goes !
DotNetMushroom
Maybe it was also a pedagogical experiment, ie associate school children to a larger project than those they usually work on?
The minute I scrolled down and saw what the council had submitted, I knew one of those would be chosen. Too bad since number one, specifically, and number two were really grand designs. Unfortunately, adult tantrums are harder to ignore than tantrums thrown by children.
Trish
I reckon logo number 2 is quite good, but it would look better on a bottle of water…it looks like one of those ‘mineral cross-sections’ showing a consumer where the water comes from.
However, to say school children conceptualised it, there’s imagination there…although is the kind of project just glorified spec work?
As designers I often wonder how limited we are by the knowledge we have, I’m all for people with little or no experience getting involved in the early stages of design work to get a completely different opinion and method of thought. I definitely agree with your final statement though it doesn’t have to be one or the other.
I prefer the work of the children….
Richard,
They certainly are unremarkable contributions from the design team. What a fine, bright morning in Northern Ireland. Shame I’ve so much work to get through.
Amanda,
That’s a great project to be involved in. Thanks for digging out your web post. I agree with you about the council intentions, and had a fair idea what was to follow after viewing the ideas presented. ‘Death star canteen’? I’ll have to pay a visit.
Zinni,
The type in general leaves a lot to be desired I reckon.
Jason,
Yep, definitely more innovation in the school kids’ ideas.
George,
I don’t like how the children were involved, only to be refused. If they’re in, they should play a part. What does that do to their confidence?
Valentino,
“Children enter contest, lose to pros.”
Exactly. Hardly gives that ‘feel good’ factor they were probably aiming for.
Cat,
The voice of reason. :) What we haven’t seen would offer much more of an insight, and council money should most definitely be focused on more important matters. Still, I’m sure they weren’t too happy with how the PR turned out. Interesting about the geological factor. I wasn’t aware, so ties in nicely.
Kelly,
Glad you liked the ending, even if it wasn’t the happiest.
Peter, Trish, Ozh, Dave and Luke,
Cheers for stopping in, and I hope your weeks are all going great so far.
Justin,
A few million Euros and the agency didn’t even visit? Sounds like a right sham to me.
Andrew,
It’s hard not to harbour thoughts of spec work, but giving children a creative project, where they can draw and experience a live project sounds good to me. The fact they weren’t involved in the outcome is disappointing though.
Such a shame they weren’t brave enough to go with the kids ideas, which are a not contrived or predictable!
#2 has the best typography and the clearest logo; it parlays Shropshire’s rural air; it makes me think of somewhere I’d like to live, and someplace I can feel proud of. The commenter who brought up Wenlock Edge is right on. #3 looks too quango-y, #1 is too busy, and the county-submitted logos are stuffy and dreary with #4 being the least offensive. I can’t help wondering if the in-house teams were set up to lose.
A pity that they’re having this unitary BS foisted on them though; talk about making government more remote.
freya, DBX,
Thanks for dropping by to comment.
Never ask a committee to make a creative decision…
Seriously. WTF. I totally understand that Council’s want to play it safe but still. Might as well have left it as it was. Pretty impressed with the school designs – Number two had legs with a little bit of tweaking, at least it showed a bit of concept. Design team at SCC should be ashamed of that seems a bit “yeah everyone else seems to be using cyan why not..” Utter toss.