Austin unveils new city brand, logo redesign

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin has rebranded.

At a press conference on Thursday morning, Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax unveiled a new brand logo for the city, which he said is the first in the city’s history to unify the city and its services.

“For the first time in Austin’s history, we will have a logo to represent the city services and unify us as one organization, one Austin,” Broadnax said.

Broadnax said the rebranding effort began before he arrived as city manager, but he was “glad to champion” it because “there is a very real business need for a unified brand.”

He said that currently, the city has over 300 logos representing different departments, services and programs, which can lead to confusion for the public, which can “dilute trust in the services we provide and create inefficiencies in how we do business,” Broadnax said.

The new brand was shaped by feedback from community members and city employees, according to Broadnax. He said that through community feedback sessions, city leaders learned that Austinites don’t have recognition or a strong affinity for the city seal, which had been used in place of a logo.

“We want our community members to be able to identify members of our team as city of Austin employees and trust the services we provide, whether they see the brand on a website, a utility bill, a street sign or the side of a vehicle, they’ll know exactly who it’s from and what it stands for,” Broadnax said. “Austinites told us that they value and appreciate their interaction with city staff, but they also want a modern government that reflects the community’s values and is consistent, connected and responsive across departments and services, and that’s what this brand does.”

The city of Austin sent out a press release shortly after the press conference ended Thursday morning, providing more details about the rebrand. The city’s branded assets will change gradually over the coming years, to minimize impact on the city budget, the release said.

The whole total project cost is an estimated $1,117,558 and is a part of the Austin Strategic 2023 Plan approved back in 2018. Here’s the breakdown of how that money is being spent:

• Brand Vendors: $640,000
• Public Awareness Campaign: $115,000
• Consolidated city-wide design software for all departments: $75,582
• Support staff and legal counsel – salary and benefits for a Brand Project Manager (temporary City employee) and external legal review: $186,976

Back in 2018, city council approved establishing a “consistent and clear brand” as part of the city’s strategic plan to improve communication and engagement with communities, businesses, and employees, City of Austin Chief Communications Director Jessica King said during the press conference.

“We are taking a fiscally responsible approach to transition to a new brand,” King said. “We do not expect departments to run out and buy everything with the new brand.”

According to King, city council awarded a contract to two firms to work on the design. Those were TKO, an Austin-based advertising agency, and Pentagram, the world’s largest independent design consultancy, which has an Austin office and team.

The contract was about $564,000, which King said the “vast majority of that” went to outreach engagement. The design element itself cost about $200,000.

New materials and digital properties like social media, websites, and digital signs will display the new brand starting Oct. 1. Things like uniforms, facility signage, and vehicles will transition based on department schedules to update or replace those items at the end of their service life.

First responder uniforms for the Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department, and Austin-Travis County EMS will not change. The release said, “it is important for Austinites to trust and recognize their public safety responders.”

The city’s official seal has been used in place of a logo for several years. According to the city, it was created in 1916 by a San Francisco illustrator for a flag design contest. The city said in its press release that the seal “is not a brand, and does not promote the City’s distinctive values and mission.”

“The logo itself reflects the hills, rivers, and bridges that serve to connect us to one another. The colors were inspired by our surrounding environment – violet crown skies and the green canopies of our parks and trails. We deliberately chose a mark that reminded us of movement to reflect how welcoming, flexible and resilient this community and our employees are,” King said in the press release. “And it’s important to remember that this cohesive brand is more than a logo – it’s a reflection of who Austin’s local government is and how it is represented. We are one Austin – and it is important that we present ourselves in a unified way.”

When it comes to rebrands, UT Marketing Professor Chris Aarons says logos tend to become more effective when they have some sort of association with them.

“The Coca Cola was just a script, but it’s a beautiful script. But over 120 years, they made it mean happiness,” Aarons said. “It is really what the entity makes that logo mean at the end of the day. As long as it’s clean and memorable and simple and eye catching—it does its job.”

The Public’s reaction to the rebrand

KXAN asked Austinites who were strolling on the Butler Hike and Bike Trial on their thoughts on the logo. The reaction was mixed.

“I think it’s great,” said one Austinite who liked the logo. “It’s definitely a modernization of the old one—which I think is a lot.”

“Visually I think [the new logo] is cleaner, it’s nicer,” said another Austinite who liked the logo. “It’s more minimalist.”

“The new logo sucks,” said one Austinite who didn’t like the logo. “It looks like a homeless tent.”

“It looks like a bad biotech’s company rebranding,” said another Austinite who didn’t like the logo.

“I’m not going to be a single issue voter about it,” said another Austinite who was indifferent to the change.

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