If there's one thing designers love, it's analysing a logo. Often the discussion is sparked by a big corporate rebrand, or the visual identity of a new company. But a recent Twitter thread shook things up by asking folk to share the logos of their town councils – and the thread is pretty amusing.
Logos have been shared from towns and cities all over the UK and, judging by the iconography and font choices (no-frills being the main visual hook), many of the places included have super similar features. Or maybe the designers could have done with a look at our logo design guide, to fully encapsulate their location's uniqueness.
Nick Clement kicked off the discussion, by sharing Bridgend's logo (see above). It's a dated affair (as seems to be a running theme with council logos – perhaps budgets are to blame), with the font on the word Bridgend changing sizes more than a MySpace profile page.
Symbolising rivers by using three lines seems to be a popular choice, as shown by Torfaen County Council and Tameside Metropolitan Borough (see above and below). Though we do appreciate the effort Torfaen went to to also create a T with its river. Perhaps Tameside could take note?
Cambridge's river iconography makes a splash of a different sort...
Many councils choose to add in symbols of their boroughs into the icons, to convey a sense of the place, though as Clement points out, the simplicity of the vectors mean they can run the risk of winding up as pretty ambiguous.
Others, like Colchester or Brighton, add a sense of gravitas by calling on history (though seeing that building set in a certain way can change its connotations, eh Brighton?).
In contrast, Bolton has gone slightly more modern with its nod to WordArt.
Most of the offerings are super simple (leading some commenters to assume they've been made in MS Paint). But we'll leave you with one that bucks the trend – the super-duper, fancy-pants logo for Pwllheli, Wales.
We think there's a certain charm in the way town council logos have been designed, with zero bells and whistles. And seeing them laid out next to each other has shown us there is a definite sector style that's super recognisable.
But a recent logo redesign project showed us what can be achieved when altering dubious logo designs, so we would also love to see what could be done if more resources were thrown at the visual identities of town councils in the UK. A bit of innovation could make us see the places in a totally new light.
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