Is Visalia starting over after logo fiasco? Council meeting moved to larger venue
The public outcry on social media against the city’s newly designed logo has been so intense and widespread that the city council decided to move its June 3 meeting to the Visalia Convention Center, to accommodate what could be a large crowd looking to speak during the public comment period.
The new logo, created by We The Creative of Irvine, as part of a larger rebranding campaign was unveiled by the city on May 7, including on the city’s social media accounts. The logo change, one of six on record since 1948, was designed to celebrate Visalia’s 150th anniversary, or sesquicentennial.
The logo issue is on the agenda for the June 3 meeting. The council could decide to keep the new logo, which was part of a $150,000 cost that included other items, such as recruitment strategy and a marketing campaign. The council could agree with calls for a logo competition among local artists. Or, the council could keep the old logo as many have suggested.
“We knew when we started that there would certainly be some people who didn’t like a new logo and there were some people that would be passionate about the former logo and would not want to see it changed,” said Visalia City Manager Leslie Caviglia during a May 20 city council meeting. “But we were surprised, honestly, by the intensity of the recent outcry.”
The issue was not on the May 20 meeting agenda, so the council could not discuss it or take any official action, according to state public meeting rules. But people did criticize the logo during the public comment period.
Caviglia said she takes “pride in being transparent” when it comes to public’s business and makes a effort to provide comprehensive information on the agendas and staff reports.
“We’ve enhanced our communications teams to provide more proactive research. And despite that, in this case, we didn’t hit the mark,” she said about involving the community better in the process.
Visalia has officially used at least six logos since 1948. Those were forwarded to the Irvine company.
“The logos kind of change every 12 to 14 years,” Caviglia said. “The former logo, the most recent one started to be used in 1998 and so it’s been used for 26 years.”
She said city staff suggested changing that logo about a decade ago because the complex graphic is difficult to reproduce in print, embroidery or in black-and-white versions.
A councilmember at the time was passionate enough about that logo, and persuaded the council to leave it as is.
The city council discussed the logo rebranding at least six times, dating back to March 15, 2021, until it decided on the new logo and colors last November.
The council relied on input from chambers of commerce, the school district, Kaweah Delta Hospital and community groups through surveys or focus groups. An online survey generated 658 responses, said Caviglia.
“We didn’t reach people who we now know would have wanted to be involved,” she said. “So we’re looking for ways to be even more proactive, including improving our digital methods with a new, more user friendly and accessible web page that will be coming in the next year and relaunching our digital newsletter.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Is Visalia starting over after logo fiasco? Council meeting moved to larger venue."
