The only element the proposed new logo has in common with the current one is an image of the old Wasatch Stake Tabernacle, which is now used to house the city administration offices — and the council chambers.
The font hearkens back to lettering commonly used in ads and signs 100 years ago. In fact, the old-style lettering was toned down from the first draft presented to the council back in April. Ryan Bunnell told the council the change was based on feedback received at that meeting. Bunnell is both Heber City's new public information officer and the managing partner of Ignition Creative Group, the firm which designed the logo and has handled other public relations and outreach for the city.
"We have, in broad strokes, tried to simplify it and make it more compatible with modern approaches to printing, embroidery, different marketing applications," he said.
But those tweaks didn’t satisfy councilmembers Scott Phillips and Ryan Stack, who expressed a preference for the city’s more modern-looking current logo.
"I think it needs to take us into the future, not trying to take us back," Phillips said.
The logo also wasn’t inclusive of Heber’s newer residents, he said.
"I'd actually take out the ‘Established 1889’ and say ‘Welcome to Heber City, Utah,’ just to make it more welcoming to our neighbors who have no connection to 1889," Phillips said.
But Bunnell said Heber’s common history was actually the unifying thread tying disparate communities together.
"We have been arguing about an identity in this community as long as I have studied this community's history. And it's been cowboys and Swiss and all over the place," he said. "Regardless of whether we're sheep herders, or we're ag people, or we're outdoor recreationalists, our history is something that we all have in common."
Bunnell also said the move away from a more modern-looking logo was based on feedback from the community. Councilmember Yvonne Barney echoed those sentiments.
"You speak to the citizens of our community from all walks of life, most of them will say I moved here because it has a small town feel," she said. "So that's what we need to remember."
Barney also referenced a recent trip the council made to cities in Colorado, and said their embrace of history was key to their current successes.
"Until we find our identity, and until we're willing to embrace the past along with the future, our future will be Anytown, USA. And when I say that, I mean Orem city," she said. "Nothing against Orem. It's perfect for what it is and what it's used for. It's a shopping center icon."
Barney suggested the community should be allowed to chime in on this issue. Councilmember Mike Johnston supported that idea.
"It doesn't have to be on a ballot in November. It could be a computer survey on the website. And it'd be perfect for ranked choice voting," he said.
Bunnell told the council he welcomed collecting citizen input. But moving forward with that is not the city’s top priority at the moment, he told KPCW.
"I think the city brand initiative is being pushed aside because of some of the excitement that's coming down the pipeline for this fall," he said. "It's not dead. We're just tabling it for a little bit until we can maybe open up some more bandwidth."
