The County of San Luis Obispo rang in the New Year with a new seal and logo design, which were approved by the Board of Supervisors in December, and will replace dozens of individual logos with the new one.
On Dec. 6, the County Board of Supervisors adopted the new seal and logo that started being phased into County communications in January. The County spent a whole year taking public input, along with input from the staff and the Board of Supervisors, “to create a look that would pay homage to the past, while also moving the County into the future.”
What they came up with is a simple logo, consisting of the silhouette of the county’s border, an image that is also within the County’s official seal, with the words “County of San Luis Obispo” in white letters and the “of” turned on its side.
The seal itself still has many of the symbols that were in the old one including “Morro Rock, a grizzly bear, an arch and bell, a ship and faces that represent early inhabitants and explorers, mountain peaks and valleys, oak leaves, and more. The ribbon with the word ‘Alcaldes’ was removed for space.”
The County’s official slogan, “Not for Ourselves Alone,” was kept and is now more prominent in the new seal. “This slogan represents the past, present and future ways the people here care for the economic, environmental and social quality of life,” the County said.
County Administrative Officer Dan Buckshi said, “We are coordinating and standardizing how we communicate with the community we serve. By unifying how we identify the County, we hope to increase awareness of County programs and services as well as increase citizen engagement with County government over time.”
The County considered a half dozen different designs and the one that prevailed was designed by marketing agency, Barnett Cox & Associates.
Though they did most of the work in-house, the County spent quite a bit of money regardless. According to County Communications Analyst Whitney Szentesi, who managed the project, “We spent about $22,000 on design and consulting services, which is considerably lower than the $40,000 or more that government agencies typically spend on similar projects.
“The former seal is 43 years old and we wanted something that will last another 43 years,” she added.
The new seal and logo will start appearing over time and most of the other County logos will be phased out within two years.
