City of Vancouver, can we talk about this logo?
An open letter to the City of Vancouver regarding its new wordmark from members of its design and digital community
Dear Mayor Robertson and Council,
We are writing to you collectively as members of the Vancouver design and digital community regarding the City of Vancouver’s new wordmark. (Because a wordmark is a type of logo and since this wordmark replaces the old logo, we will use the word ‘logo’ interchangeably with ‘wordmark’ in this letter from hereon in.)
As citizens of Vancouver, we are proud to live and work here. Our city is blessed with creativity, innovation, culture and natural beauty. Vancouver is one of the world’s most livable cities, and this City Council has even greater ambitions to make it the greenest and healthiest world-class city. Indigenous peoples have protected this land for thousands of years. Migrants from around the world have shaped its history and continue to shape its future. This diversity is one of our key strengths. We are a city bursting at the seams with creativity and talent. This is not simply because our dollar is worth less, that we are known as “Hollywood North” and “Silicon Valley North”. It is because Vancouver’s creative and innovation sectors are world-renowned for our skills.
With this in mind, we are deeply disappointed in the City Council’s approval of the rollout of the new city wordmark and specifically the misguided process that was undertaken for this approval.
A city’s identity is sacrosanct. It is our mark in the world. It represents who we are as a people and our collective values. It symbolizes our history and aspirations for the future. For many of us, it is the identity of the city on our birth certificates, driver’s licences and passports. For others, it will be the start of their welcoming experience to Vancouver. Civic identity is what unites us as a city and distinguishes us from the world. Take a look at the identity of some of the greatest cities in the world, such as the City of Melbourne, City of Paris, City of Montreal, and City of Surrey (see more examples in footnote). Those cities’ identities tell distinctive stories of who their citizens are and want to be. Redesigning a city’s logo should not be reduced to an administrative communications exercise as it has been for the approval of this new wordmark. There is so much more that could have been done, yet the City has severely failed to produce an inspirational mark that authentically represents and makes us proud of who we are and can be.
Secondly, we are troubled by the City of Vancouver’s decision to select the lowest bidder for the logo redesign and the severe lack of budget or comprehensive plan for the rollout of this initiative. On one hand, the City publicly touts the importance of creative and innovation economies in Vancouver, and justifies the development of these sectors as a primary motivation for this exercise. On the other hand, when it comes to redeveloping the identity for a city of our size, the City chooses to severely underinvest resources and time. To us, this signals that the City actually undervalues design and the creative and innovation sectors thereby setting an undesirable precedent for the future. A civic identity refresh can be a significant city-building opportunity if done properly. If the City is not ready to invest in a cohesive new identity with resources and time to do it right, it is better to not redesign at all than to do it half heartedly.
Thirdly, as professionals, we are confused by the reasons used to justify the logo redesign. The City staff writes in the report to Council that such a redesign is needed because “a simpler visual identity will not only be more easily recognized and understood by those for whom English is not a first language, but can be more easily adapted for social media channels.” Unfortunately, the selected design does not meet either criteria. It is an English-only logo that will mean even less to citizens who are non-native English speakers. Further, the new Visual Standards Guide provided does not demonstrate digital usage guidelines or express any diligence performed on optimizing the new logo for digital use. Justification for a design is one of the most important parts of the design process itself, and even more important when you are trying to rally a whole city behind a new identity.
Lastly, as citizens, we are deeply concerned that the wordmark was already used in distributed print materials prior to the Council vote as noted by CTV reporter, Penny Daflos. The recommendation on the City staff report was for Council to “authorize the roll out of the new City of Vancouver wordmark”, yet the wordmark was already in use prior to the Mayor’s motion being passed. This isn’t about whether a municipal logo redesign should be approved by City Council or not. This is about the integrity of our civic democracy. You have undermined democracy — a core Canadian value.
We collectively urge City Council and the City of Vancouver to reject the new City of Vancouver wordmark. It is an insult to the design and creative sector. It is an insult to Vancouverites and all who love our city. This is not a debate about whether the Optima or Gotham typeface is better or whether a logo is a wordmark or a rebrand. This is a debate about valuing our civic identity and the City’s value of our creative and innovation sectors. You have severely missed the mark with this wordmark, City of Vancouver and Council. Please, spare us from this new logo. This is not my Vancouver. This is not our Vancouver.
Yours sincerely,
Brock Ellis, Art Director
Bob Kronbauer, Creative Director and Founder, Vancouver Is Awesome
Amer Alkhatib, Designer, CBC Music
Gary Sylvester, User Experience Designer, Electronic Arts
Lyndon Mayer, Experience Design Lead, Electronic Arts
David McAnsh, User Experience Designer, Electronic Arts
Michael Barnucz, Producer, Electronic Arts
Trevor Van den Eijnden, Visual Arts Department Head
Kyle Thacker, Design Lead, Product & Brand, Bench Accounting
Craig Cullimore, Communications Designer
Andrew Fung, Service Designer, Bench Accounting
Rowan Weismiller, Designer and Front-end Engineer, Bench Accounting
Ross Howard-Jones, Product Designer, Bench Accounting
Taby Cheng, Digital Content Producer, Brand, Bench Accounting
Paul Michalak, Senior Mobile/Front End Developer, Bench Accounting
Sean Warwick, User Experience Designer, Virtuasoft
Henry Lo, Front End Developer, Virtuasoft
Novita Prasetia, Product Designer, Thinker Tree Studio Inc.
Nick Routley, Creative Director, Visual Capitalist / Popcorn
Stuart Popp, Art Director, Popcorn
Harrison Schell, Graphic Designer, Visual Capitalist
Melissa Haavisto, Graphic Designer, Visual Capitalist
Salina Vuong, Studio Coordinator, Visual Capitalist
Bennett Slater, Graphic Designer, Visual Capitalist
Justin Vaillancourt, Co-founder, Dooly.ai
Zachary Halvorson, Designer, Dooly.ai
Mike Klemarewski, Software Engineer, Dooly.ai
Andrew Scherle, Design Lead, TDH Experiential Fabricators
Spiro Sideris, Software Engineer, Uber Technologies Inc
Gillian Damborg, Creative Director, Luvo Inc.
Oli Maughan, Community Manager, Luvo Inc.
Judy Bau, Creative Services Project Manager, Luvo Inc.
Peter Chlebak, Art Director, Luvo Inc.
Kristian Hay, Senior Designer, Native Shoes
Justin Rellinger, Graphic Designer, Native Shoes
Ziggy Linklater, Designer, Vega
Alyse Adlard, Product Designer, Shopify
Denis Suhopoljac, Design Director, SUHO
Denise Villanueva, Product Designer
Felix Hyun Jae Cha, Video / Motion Designer
Ricky Knight, User Experience Manager
Topp Brocales, Product Designer
Matt Coady, UI Developer
Troy Hibbs, Co-Owner, tdhxfab.com
Shauna Bevacqua, Customer Experience Agent, Slack
David Priban, Creative Director
Adrian Lu, Product Director, Reelhouse
Steve Krueger, COO & Co-Founder, The Jibe
Francis Pilon, CEO & Co-Founder, The Jibe
Christopher Stott, Co-Founder, buddybuild
Niamh Redmond, UX Research & Experience Design Lead
Jen Cook, Art Director, Chimp
Michael Parks, Creative Director, Skyrocket
Mo Dhaliwal, Director of Strategy, Skyrocket Digital
Kei Ogasawara, Graphic Designer, Skyrocket Digital
Ben Shackleton, Developer, Skyrocket Digital
Marie Lamouret, UX Designer, Skyrocket Digital
Jamie Spittal, Lead Developer, Skyrocket Digital
Sanaz Afshar, Scrum Master, Skyrocket Digital
Nick McWilliams, Account Strategist, Skyrocket Digital
Graeme Berglund, Artist, Arts Management, MNMNT
Boris Chow, Lead Designer, 80ELEMENTS
Peter Hrynkow, Software Engineer, Experience Designer
Mitra Mansour, Designer + Creative Strategist
Dan Nanasi, UX Strategist
Jacqueline Cullimore, Web Developer and Online Content Manager
Chad Kerychuk, Graphic Designer & Asst. Art Director, Film and TV
Emily Tso, Creative Director, Chinatown Today and Hua Foundation
Kunal Sen, Animation Director & Motion Designer
Wayne Hsu, Marketing and Design Manager, ICITouchTech
Anita So, Junior Graphic Designer, Student
Melody Ma, Web Developer and Marketer
Adrienne Matei, Writer and Editor
Gordon Jones, Product Manager, Voleo
Tammy Nguyen, Graphic Designer
Belinda Williams, Art Director
Matt Rempel, Project Manager, TDH Experiential Fabricators
Alex Saar, Graphic Design for Marketing (GDMA) Student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Dale Simonson, Design Educator, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Andy Chipperfield, User Experience/User Interface Designer
Lisa Temes, Graphic Designer & Art Director
Guramrit Singh, UX/UI Design Lead
Jessica Campbell, Graphic Designer
Katie Spires, Product Owner / UI Designer, adacado
Johnny Vo, Designer, Hexonet
Erin Raimondo, Content & Engagement Strategist, UBC
Terri Kennedy, Communications Designer
Dennis Thisner, Quality Assurance Engineer
Pindie Dhaliwal, Director of Business Development
Solomon Hsu, Digital Producer, Teekay Corporation
Paul Wood, Art Director, Graphic Designer
Nick Fruhling, Product Design, Chimp
Trevor Storey, Graphic Designer
Lindsey Hampton, Graphic Designer
Mairin Deery, Graphic Designer, Scope Creative
Nicole Phillips, Graphic Designer
Ashley Marie, Graphic Designer, Lonely Cloud Design
HïMY SYeD, Founding Editor, VancouverWiki
Samantha Rousseau, Digital Strategist
Brandon Lal, Graphic Designer
Jason Cassels, Lead Designer at 42four, Co-founder of Riverbend
Sharon Hsiao, Communications Designer
Dhruv Narang, User Interface Designer, Virtuasoft
Rachael Currie, Digital Project Manager
Emily Arsenault, UI Designer
Lech Dolecki, Artist, Vancouverama
Nicole Brown, Front End Lead
Robert McInnis, Front End Developer
Eric Krtinic, Designer
Dianne Semark, Designer
Jean-Philippe Boulais, Designer
Russ Horii, Production Designer
Nathan Shubert-Harbison, Web Developer/Designer
Jordan Garn, Marketing and Communications Specialist, Fraser Valley Regional Library
Justin Penner, Graphic Designer, Red Symbol Design Co.
Leah Nyrose, Senior Communications Specialist
Scott Thomson, Co-Founder — OnBox
Adam Hartley, Co-Founder — OnBox
Andrea Chapman, certified Graphic Designer, Image Impact Design Studio
Andrew Nip, Experience & Service Designer
Stephen Hale, CEO, Hale! Marketing
Daryl Claudio, Art Director & Front-end Developer
Melanie Macpherson, CGD, Designer & Creative Director, Melanie Macpherson Design
Peter Cocking, Creative Director, Page Two; adjunct professor of design, Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Lisa Taniguchi, Creative Director at WealthBar
Tyler Fawcett, Creative Director, Yardi
Caroline Tapp, Lead Designer, Launch Academy
Gord Brown, Interactive Designer, Electronic Arts
Foley Lynn, Front End Developer
Erwin Sanvictores, Creative — Livestock Canada
Elena Sarasom — Producer/Director, Georgia Street Media
Christine Baik, ECommerce Manager — Livestock Canada
Christina Peressini, Graphic Designer, Peressini & Co.
Shannon Byrne, Freelance Graphic Designer
Heron Hanuman, Principal, Double H Creative Inc.
Tyler Roy, Lead Designer, Stanley Park Ventures
Jenny Newman, Graphic Designer
Alexis Barbot, Design Specialist — Convertus
Matsuko Friedland, Web Developer/Designer
Miranda Sam, Marketer, Canadian Springs
Rachel Gertz, Digital PM Trainer, Louder Than Ten
Clay Yandle, Creative Director, Eggbeater Creative
Parker McLean, Creative Director, In the Rye Creative
Stephanie Donald, Creative Design Lead, Eventbase Technology
Clayton Wadsworth, Graphic Designer, Visual Capitalist
Marie Wong, UX Designer
Larissa Keller, Graphic Designer
Kayla Cherkas, Digital Project Manager
Mae Uy, UX/UI Designer, Eventbase Technology
Monika Waber, Art Director, Maisonneuve Magazine
Neal LaMontagne, City Planner; Adjunct Professor, UBC; Lecturer, Langara Applied Planning
Anastasia Chetvertukhina, Senior UX Designer, Top Secret Agency
Shane O’Neill, Architect
Elizabeth Marston, Front End Developer, Ethelo.com
Liza Barcellano, Graphic Designer, Jukebox Print
Mayumi Taylor, Marketing Manager, Ann-Louise Jewellers
Syd Danger, Art Director, Adbusters Magazine
Arnold Chow, Senior Designer, Free Agency Creative
Anthony Incardona, Graphic Design Manager, AMS of UBC Vancouver
Bebe Zhang, Graphic Designer, AMS of UBC Vancouver
Gabriel Santiago, Interactive Designer, Camp Pacific
Spencer Marsh, UX/UI Designer
Joel Hanson, Graphic Designer, Iron Dreams Fishing Company
Martin Knowles, Owner/Photographer, Martin Knowles Photo/Media
Zephaniah Wong, Digital Strategist, Axiomatic Solutions Inc.
Sheri Poetker, Freelance Graphic Designer, Previously with DDB and Cossette
Oli Gardner, Marketing & Conversion Expert
Stephen Harrison, Publisher, furniture link
Casey Clements, Quantitative Architect, Continuum Analytics
Patrick Connelly, Creative Director / Partner, Make Creative
Kirby Oikawa, Graphic Designer, Kanata Blanket Co.
Patrick Shannon, Creative Director, InnoNative
Andrew Munroe, Web Developer, UBC
Gracelle Mesina, Interactive Designer, Engine Digital
Jimmy Ly, Art Director, DHX MEDIA
Bobby Lumia, DropBOB Designs
Kelsey Hannan, Co-founder, Critical Pulse
Josh Krajina, Creative Director, Curfew Creative Inc.
Gordan Dumka, Co Founder, Evolve Creative Solutions
Lou DuHamel, designer, Barcode Farm
Anand R. Mani, Designer
Robin Changizi, Creative Director, Urban Productions
Marcus Youssef, Artistic Director, Neworld
Crispin Hands, Composer/Audio Director, Lionshead Entertainment
Candee Clark, Owner, Candee Clark Designs
Nick Noorani Prepare for Canada
Kyle Lincoln, Logo Designer / Owner, Brandcouver
Sharon Chow, Logo Designer / Owner, Brandcouver
Tammy Brown, Creative Director, Lead Designer, Bang! MediaWorks Inc
Matthew Harty, Intern Architect AIBC, Shape Architecture
Peter Klein, Executive Director, Global Reporting Centre
Derek B Durand, Communication Designer
Kevin Smith, Instructor in Design at Langara College
Bruce White, Founder, RedTrain
Andrea Robertson, Information Designer / Owner, Hypsypops Design Co.
Tina Yan, Graphic Designer, UBC Information Technology
Daniel Susetyo, Interaction Designer & Front-end Developer
Arthur Fallick, Maxus International Systems
Braden Staudacher, Web Developer, UBC
Chris Au, President / Creative Director, Didax Design
Nicole Wright, Data Analyst, Vancouver Coastal Health
Wendy Chio, Graphic Designer, Emily Carr
Reza Rad, Creative Director / Co-Founder, MaxiMax Marketing and Design Ltd.
Terry Brown, Industrial Designer, Norco Bicycles
Paula Provost, Freelance Graphic Designer
Norbert Jakubke, Idea Catalyst, The Matchstick Marketing Inc
Richel Tong, Product Designer, WOKE Studio
Brian Krenzer, Creative Director, Noise Digital
F.P. Chan, Registered Professional Planner
Willy Wong, Photographer, Photos By Willy
Boyd Godfrey, Stagecraft Film Services
Kevan D’Agostino, Senior Design Consultant, Doblin Group
Steve Rio, CEO, Briteweb
Ezequiel Perdomo, UX Designer, SAP
Felipe Gasparino, Mobile Lead Developer, Jostle
Natasha Ali, Freelance Motion Graphics Designer
Jordan Yep, Freelance Videographer, JY Media
Kristen Murrell, Product Designer, Blurr Stuff design
Samuel Wisjnu, Motion Graphic Designer
Luya Tshimbalanga, Freelance Graphic Designer
Renee Ng, Freelance Product Designer
Bevin Middleton, Copywriter
Samantha Flores, Interface Designer, Electronic Arts
Timothy Chuang, Graphic Designer, Anomaly
Matt Hocking, Graphic Designer
Quinci Cohen, Graphic Designer, Henriquez Partners Architects
Ariane Colenbrander, Graphic Designer
Ernst Schneider, Graphic Designer, Robert Allan Ltd.
Mahbod Biazi, Intern Architect
Colin Green, Creative Director
Taylor Singleton-Fookes, Web Developer
Derek Lam, Hidden Public
Ryan Golla, Hidden Public
Derek Atchison, Hidden Public
Adam Mountstevens, Graphic Designer
Lennie Lu, Product Designer, VoPay
Gaelen Norman, Sr. Front-end Engineer, VoPay
Blake Fisher, Product Manager, VoPay
Gurminder Boparai, Jr. Front-end Developer, VoPay
Jeff Burke, Owner/Lead Designer, Spin Key Media
Vivian Lau, Freelance Graphic Designer, Previously with TransLink
Paul Gledhill, Senior Art Director, Kaldor Brand Strategy and Design.
Martin Batten, Creative Director, Kaldor Brand Strategy and Design
Sally Douglas, Managing Director, Kaldor Brand Strategy and Design
Ljiljana Majkic, Graphic Designer, Teldon Media Inc.
Doreen Collins, Project Manager, Kaldor Brand Strategy and Design
Corey Cote, Freelance Graphic Designer, Cote & Co
Phoebe Tsui, Owner and Creative Director, Love by Phoebe
Terence Sawtell, Founder and Principal Operator of Goatsocial Creative Inc.
Stephen Smith, Graphic Designer
Pooya Salahi, Founder at Graphic Design Studio
Sean Mitchell, Creative Developer
Rinat De Picciotto, Communication Designer
Rupert Burr, Digital Art Director/Designer, CXLA Ltd.
Javier Puig, Director. Persona Creative
Sasha Goldstein, Freelance Designer & Art Director
City report and new Visual Design Guide: http://council.vancouver.ca/20170222/documents/pspc3.pdf
Video of council meeting: http://civic.neulion.com/cityofvancouver/index.php?clipid=3495189,000
Examples of cities with great identities:
