Arran-Elderslie is looking for community input on possible logos for the villages of Chesley and Tara.
It’s part of a branding initiative the municipality is working on.
The aim is to develop brands for Chesley and Tara to complement the brand that has been developed for Paisley, which is now referred to as ‘the artistic river village.’
Two logos have been developed for each village. Those who would like to weigh in on them can vote online before March 10th.
Both logos feature a river swooping over the village’s name, as well as various agricultural and urban elements.
Earlier in the year, the municipality held public meetings to gather residents’ branding ideas and to identify key characteristics of the villages.
Some have already weighed in on the new logo options by commenting on social media they would like to see things like the water tower, mammoth or a harp in the logo for Tara, for example. The municipality has mentioned those elements may be included in other branding components and artwork.
The branding project is supported by Bruce County, which has a Community Marketing Grant that focuses on a number of things including a marketing campaign to stimulate a community’s downtown economy.
A number of Bruce County communities have developed ‘community toolkits’ including Tobermory, Lion’s Head, Wiarton, Sauble Beach, Allenford, Hepworth, Paisley, Mildmay, Port Elgin, Southampton, Teeswater, Lucknow, Ripley and Walkerton.
Those kits include examples of design elements like colour pallets, facade materials, lighting style, creative signage examples and public art that suit the identified themes of their respective communities. For example, Sauble Beach has a retro beach brand and theme, Tobermory has a nautical theme, Kincardine has a Scottish heritage theme and Wiarton is branded as the base camp to the Bruce Peninsula.
Alongside those toolkits, there are grants available through Bruce County’s Spruce the Bruce program which can help with facade improvement, signage, awnings, streetscape, patio installation, and other projects.