Sherburne County is getting a colorful new logo.

 

Tuesday, the board of commissioners got a presentation from Switchboard Advertising, the firm hired in July to develop a new logo and tagline for the county.

 

 In addition to interviewing people in the general public, businesses and county staff, Switchboard sent out almost 1,100 surveys to get an idea about what people felt were the five traits that best described Sherburne County.

 

The top five were: developing 685, friendly 604, quiet 436, beautiful 423 and spacious 361. The two things residents and business owners valued the most about the county were: location (522) family friendly (504).

 

The survey results were no surprise to Switchboard Creative Director Guy Magno and lead designer Ryan Schoepf.

 

“It confirmed what we believed and what we knew to be true about Sherburne County,” said Magno, “that this is a place of great heritage and great opportunity.” 

 

But Magno said it was difficult to pinpoint exactly how to tell the story of Sherburne County.

 

“It wasn’t an easy task. There are so many different people, so many different voices,” he said.

 

 “Communities with young families, booming industries, farmers that have been here for generations. What story are we going to tell?”  Schoepf said the logo is a culmination of all the different attributes of the county.

 

“People live in Sherburne County because they want space, quiet, beauty and a small-town feel while remaining close enough to the metro areas to enjoy the work and recreational opportunities bigger cities provide,” he said. “People work in Sherburne County because it’s home.” 

 

He said the challenge was boiling that information down to a core idea that was deliberately simple, no-nonsense -  but not dull.

 

What developed was a logo using a simplified shape of the county, and “rolling hills” in earthy colors heading towards the horizon.

 

“We wanted a classic, timeless approach. The strong badge-like shape implies that,” he said. “It started out as just rolling hills to imply openness, spaciousness and freedom.”

 

Schoepf said that concept turned into something more by using the different colors.

 

“Farmers can see the fields (green). People can see the river (blue) and young families can see the Big Lake beach (tan), which we frequent all the time,” he said. “And the lines are moving toward the horizon like there’s opportunity ahead. This logo spoke to the most people in our group and the people we talked to.”

 

The tagline “Sherburne County - Opportunity Awaits” carries that theme forward.

 

Switchboard also developed logos for the county parks department, the four different county parks, and logos for the new website which is under development. The county will also be installing over 1,000 signs with the new Government Center expansion project, as well as logos for vehicles and letterheads.

 

Magno said the logo is simple, direct, timeless and will outlast any new trends.