The Sherburne County Board last week approved a $44,500 contract with Switchboard Advertising to update the county’s logo, tagline (slogan) and the Sherburne County Economic Development and Parks & Trails logo.

 

The commissioners discussed the issue at a workshop a few months ago. At that time, Administrator Steve Taylor said the county’s logo is no longer representative of today’s county, with images of a tractor in a field, a fish, a residential development an the old Government Center.

 

“Our logo is out of date. Our logo today has a picture of the Government Center that no longer  exists,” he said. “We have a media communications specialist coming on board in the next two to three weeks. We’ve got a new building that has over 1,000 signs in it and we’re going to have a large monument sign. We’re also endeavoring to significantly update our website. I think now is the time to update our logo, our tagline.”

 

Taylor said the important part of the project is the up-front research to develop the logo and tagline, “talking to businesses, talking to staff, talking to residents and getting feedback to see what does the Sherburne County brand look like,” he said.

 

Included in the scope of work is:

 

• Research (use of surveys, interviews with residents & businesses);

 

• Development of four to six individual logo and tagline options;

 

• Development of clear and easy communication and visual guidelines called a Brand Guide;

 

• Creation of typefaces for PowerPoint Templates, emails, newsletter, vehicle decals, business cards and letterhead, as well as print and social media templates.

 

Commissioner Felix Schmiesing suggested reviewing what other counties and cities have done to make sure Sherburne County doesn’t duplicate what is already being done.

 

“We should review what our neighbors are doing,” he said.

 

Taylor said they would look at adjacent counties and cities. He also said it was important for the county to move ahead quickly.

 

“MnDOT is going through a huge reframing effort right now. It’s taking them months and months to get it done,” he said.

 

The schedule calls for the work to be completed in late October, which will correspond with the signage for the new building expansion project.