Graphic designer Tanya Duffy describes the Town of Tantramar’s new logo as “a simple, clean and modern crest.”
During her presentation to town council on Tuesday, Duffy added that the logo is made up of several parts that come together to form a unified symbol.
“Each element showcases the natural beauty, history and complexity of the region,” she said before showing the new logo itself along with a slide explaining its various elements.
Duffy is the creative director of the Fredericton firm, The Details Design + Branding, that won the $60,000 contract to create the new logo while Tom Bateman of the Fredericton consulting firm, Porter O’Brien, helped with community engagement work that included conducting a survey, focus groups and interviews.
Duffy and Bateman’s presentation pointed to the logo’s usefulness in all parts of the new town.
“The new brand does not seek to replace the identities of the communities that combine to make Tantramar, but rather to leverage the natural surroundings, identified by the residents, that make Tantramar a wonderful place to live, work and visit,” Duffy told council.
Judging by the reactions of those who spoke, the new logo was a big hit with members of council.
“I love it,” said Councillor Allison Butcher.
“Whether you live in Rockport or Dorchester or Point de Bute or Midgic or Sackville, I think that that logo is where you live,” she added.
“I sort of thought it would be divided up by areas, but I love how cohesive it is, but it’s still each of us altogether.”
Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell and Deputy Mayor Greg Martin praised the logo for including all parts of the municipality while Councillor Josh Goguen said he was glad to see recognition of the Acadians and the Fort Folly First Nation.
Councillor Bruce Phinney spoke three separate times telling Duffy and Bateman how impressed he was with how the logo brings everyone together.
“The last logo didn’t,” he said.
“All I ever saw was ducks and reeds. Sorry, I’m tired of ducks and reeds…[but] now people are going to say, ‘I know exactly who’s part of Tantramar’ because of the fact that you’ve incorporated everybody in it.”
“The logo is fantastic,” said Mayor Andrew Black.
“I love how each piece of the logo is separated, one from the other, but if you look at the lines and how it all comes together, it looks separated, but together,” Black explained, adding that a slide showing the logo on a town truck “looked awesome.”
However, Virgil Hammock, retired head of the Mount Allison University Fine Arts department, describes the new logo as pretty, but “too complex.”
Hammock, who is a former Sackville town councillor, says the various parts of the logo need to be explained before they can be understood.
“You want a universal symbol,” he said pointing, for example, to the Apple logo.
Hammock said he agreed with the conclusions of a $15,000 marketing study that the Town of Sackville received in 2020.
“If it appeals to everybody, it appeals to nobody.”
Thaddeus Holownia, an award-winning, local photographer and Mt. A research professor says he likes the colours in the logo.
“They remind me of an aerial photo of the Tantramar,” he says.
“It looks professional,” he adds. “It’s easy to be an armchair critic, but I think there are more pressing issues to discuss.”
Robert Tombs, a graphic artist and Mt. A. fine arts graduate who now serves as President of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, said in a brief response to a Facebook query:
“I think it’s a decent logo and it’s nice that Sackville got a good design.”