Midland Avenue isn’t the only part of Basalt that’s getting a fresh look this year.
The town government is aiming to update its logo for the first time in roughly 20 years.
Three options were unveiled for the public Friday afternoon. The public will have a chance to rank the designs in an online survey.
“The town of Basalt is changing, and the current logo no longer reflects the town’s unique and vibrant culture or identity,” says a town website called Let’s Talk Basalt.
Town staff solicited input from the town council, members of its various volunteer committees and from the Basalt High School student council on what was desired in a new logo.
“I bribed them with pizza,” Town Manager Ryan Mahoney said of collecting input from the students.
Town staff also attended a gathering after mass at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church to specifically invite Latinos in the community to get involved in the process.
The town hired a consulting firm, Slate Communications, to lead the process and work with two local graphic designers on multiple logo options. Nine alternatives were prepared and reviewed by a brand committee.
“The number of logos has been cut to five and the artists are making modifications based on feedback from the committee,” Mahoney wrote in a recent report to the council.
“All of them are getting some tweaks to them,” the town manager said in an interview. Sometimes the requested tweaks were to alter the font used in copy and other times it was a change to graphic elements. The second drafts of the remaining five logos were reviewed by the committee this week and the contenders were narrowed to three.
The top logos are being shared with the community for input and feedback online via the Let’s Talk Basalt website at letstalk.basalt.net/town-logo-redesign-project. There is a link for a survey.
Once the input is collected, the brand committee will select its top choice and present it to the council on April 25. The new logo will be used on letterhead, official town documents and on vehicles.
The current logo was created by former longtime town building inspector and former council member Mark Kittle. It features a mountain that resembles Basalt Mountain with patches of snow on it as well as blue sky and two shades of green vegetation. The current logo says Town of Basalt with the year 1901 for when it was incorporated.
The contending new logos were under wraps until late Friday. Option A features a mountain with two streams meeting at a confluence and a big sun shining over the scenery. Option B blends images of mountains, conifer trees and streams. Option C is a subtle, river-influenced design.
“The goal of the project is to create a new logo that is a better representation of the town government and its responsibilities,” the town’s website said.
The new logo is part of a year of change for Basalt. The town launched its nearly $12 million Midland Avenue Streetscape Project in March. The first phase will add parking, replace infrastructure and add landscaping on Midland Spur as well as convert it to a one-way street heading west. That phase will be completed in late June.
As the plan stands now, work will begin on Midland Avenue during the summer. The project is designed to make the town’s main street more pedestrian-friendly, replace old utility lines, improve stormwater drainage and spruce up the appearance.