City of Cape Town’s new logo explained

The City of Cape Town's new logo.

The City of Cape Town's new logo.

Published Feb 26, 2014

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Cape Town - The colours of the City of Cape Town’s controversial proposed new logo were chosen “as the unique colours of Cape Town… ”

“You find them from the Bo-Kaap houses to Kaapse Klopse, from the sea to the mountain and the fynbos,” David Blyth, group managing director of Yellowwood, the design house that has created the logo, explained.

In turn, “the outward arrow shapes that are formed by the interplay of forms show progress, expansion and opportunity”.

The explanation came after detailed questions were submitted to the company on day, passed on by the City of Cape Town, the company’s client.

“The tender from the City of Cape Town was approved on September 10, 2013 and the closing date was November 12, 2013. Yellowwood began work on January 6, 2014,” said Blyth. “Yellowwood has spent more than 140 hours on the logo development thus far.”

Marios Flourentzou, creative director in Cape Town, “ran the entire engagement for the delivery of the new identity and was the designer of the work”, Blyth said.

Asked what the design had been instructed to achieve, he said: “The City of Cape Town had changed their strategy, and they required assistance in building a new brand centred on the idea of collaboration and shared responsibility.

“For that reason, the primary objective of the design was to help the city build a reputation for the following things: ‘opportunity’, ‘progress’, ‘shared responsibility’ and ‘inclusivity’.

“Shifting the strategy from passive citizenship to encouraging active citizenship and collaboration for mutual progress required that we signal this change with a revolution in the identity, not an evolution. We hope to inspire the 3.5 million citizens of Cape Town and the 25 000 employees of the city behind a common goal.”

The new brand “needed to have gravitas, be approachable, inclusive and warm”.

Blyth explained the visual elements: “The circular shape of the logo is an inclusive and approachable form, yet is also has the stability and symmetry required for a reputable institution.

“Table Mountain was retained as the iconic marker of Cape Town... In order to differentiate it from the thousands of other similar Table Mountain marks and logos, it was abstracted into simple shapes.

“By placing Table Mountain on a circular horizon, we hinted at the forward-looking, future-oriented symbolism of horizons – they represent progress.

“By showing the mountain from many different angles, we captured the diversity of Cape Town’s people, views and cultures. The multiple rings of the logo show that Cape Town is a city with many roleplayers, and that together they work to make the city great – this captures shared responsibility.”

Cape Argus

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