ERIN – The Town of Erin is revisiting whether to rebrand its rebrand after significant pushback from the public on its newly proposed logo.
Councillor John Brennan put forward a notice of motion at Erin's council meeting Thursday to "initiate an expedited rebranding process" to save tax dollars on implementing a new logo.
This follows the Town of Erin being met with social media backlash after revealing a new logo that residents said looked similar to other logos on Sept. 13 – nine days after asking residents to share their thoughts on rebranding.
Brennan said he put forward the motion because the timeline of the rebranding process "did not allow for meaningful public participation" which resulted in a "significantly negative reaction from concerned citizens to the newly adopted logo."
The motion also asks that council direct staff to assemble variations of previously used logos and consult with the public on a possible new design before the final design implementation.
Consisting of three leaves creating a heart in the middle, mainly with green colours and “Erin” in a serif font, the rebranding and logo design cost $20,000 and was done by Toronto-based branding agency Trajectory Brands.
A petition asking council to restore the old logo has reached 866 signatures since the original announcement.
CAO Rob Adams said in light of the motion, the Oct. 1 public meeting will be postponed to a future date "that makes sense in light of a potential change."
“I think it’s important that there be clear direction from council so that that meeting is productive and useful to the public,” said Adams.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
