The new design for the Whangārei District Council logo has been chosen. Photo / Supplied
The new design for the Whangārei District Council logo has been chosen. Photo / Supplied
A logo which can be interpreted in many ways has been chosen as the new Whangārei District Council logo.
Whangārei's councillors gave the go ahead for staff to prepare a plan to transition to the new logo at a meeting last Thursday.
Mayor Sheryl Mai said the council listened tothe insights people gave about the concepts as they were developed.
"This brought us to a logo of flowing forms that can be interpreted in many ways. It still links back to the traditional W of the District, while bringing the sea, earth and sky into the picture."
Mai said that when the council asked people to look at the image, some said they could see two whales (maybe a mother and her calf) which acknowledges Terenga Paraoa, the gathering place of the chiefs or whales, some saw the two hawks that acknowledge Reitu and Reipae's journey on Te Karerea (Te Whanga-a-Rei) and some saw the maunga and rolling hills of the district in the curves and peaks of the logo.
"It's all about representing the story of this place, its history and its people. I hope people will feel a sense of connection with it and I am looking forward to it becoming a representation of our district."
The design can be interpreted in many ways. Photo/Supplied
The change in logo was first proposed in April, as part of a wider rebranding proposal to forge a better relationship with the public.
Council corporate general manager Alan Adcock said Big Fish Creative was engaged in a $171,000 contract to complete a set of communications projects over a two-year period.
"This included developing a new communications strategy, developing brand architecture, concepts for a new image and some implementation work."
He said of those projects, development of the new logo design cost $25,326.
It was also proposed to drop the word "council" from Whangārei District Council and incorporate the words "Whangārei District" into a host of council-associated subbrands.
The word "council" will appear in the new logo, signifying the end of that part of the proposal.
The council's new communications strategy, which was adopted on Thursday alongside the call for a plan to transition to the new logo, states "Whangārei District" would be included into all uses of "Love it here!".
It has not been specified what changes will be made to other council subbrands, such as City Safe or Northland Events Centre, but the strategy does aim to improve "the linkages between council parent and subbrands".
