ERIN – The Town of Erin is getting rid of its new logo less than a month after it was unveiled.
Acknowledging they made a bad decision, Erin council directed staff to dispense with the new logo at a council meeting Thursday afternoon, who will now assemble variations of the previously used icons and consultation with the public take place on a possible new design before implementation.
This follows a motion from Councillor John Brennan to "initiate an expedited rebranding process" to save tax dollars on implementing a new logo.
"We made a mistake in the process, but it was not a malicious mistake. It was not a mistake that was designed to avoid interacting with the public. It was made for good reasons at the time," said Brennan., at the meeting. "However, in retrospect, we've decided that those reasons weren't as valid as we thought they were at the time, and that's the reason for bringing forward this notice of motion. But I want to make sure people understand...we all care."
Before they made the decision, several councillors commented on the public pushback against the now-repealed logo, including Coun. Bridget Ryan who encouraged the "robust community engagement" to continue past the logo issue, "which quite possibly is the issue of change."
"Our community has voiced passionate concerns related to change, and rebranding is one of these changes," said Ryan. "But as we grow, it's clear that maintaining community identity, connected to heritage and a sense of place is very important."
"I don't support a further investment into exploring another option. However, I don't support abandoning all the work that went into this branding exercise," said Coun. Cathy Aylard. "It was so much more than developing a new symbol. It was really about defining who we are as our population doubles in the next 10 years."
The township is now in a "transition phase" as it will continue to use the now-abandoned logo in conjunction with the old municipal logo until it has a clear path forward.
Council will be made aware of any further expenditures of implications surrounding the logo before it makes another decision.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
