PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Prince William County’s new blue box logo continues to appear on business cards and at formal functions like a recent commercial real estate showcase at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on Wednesday.
It was designed by Michigan-based firm David Castlegrant and Associates, LLC. Prince William County’s office of Economic Development ordered the logo created after a 2010 study was approved by the Board of Supervisors on how to better brand the county to businesses.
Brent Heavner, who is in the process of leaving the Economic Development office for a new job at the county’s communications office in Woodbridge, worked for Castlegrant on a project basis from August 2007 to September 2009.
“My prior experience with [David Castlegrant and Associates] absolutely influenced my decision to reach out to them for assistance on the logo project. I knew that Charlie and his design team are highly capable, and I was very pleased with their willingness to work within my cost constraints when I approached them about the work,” Heavner told Potomac Local News.
Castlegrant and Associates is a small company with a portfolio of two samples of featured work on their website, four listed employees, about 30 fans on their Facebook page.
What is also small is the amount of cash paid to the firm to design the logo, $750, said Prince William County spokesman Jason Grant, who said the final price tag was a great value. The price was so small that it did not require a competitive bid process, he added.
Kathy Strauss is the President of Prince William-based design firm ImageWerks. Her firm bid for and won the job to design the Prince William Chamber of Commerce’s new logo in 2010.
“The county pushes supporting local businesses with a buy local campaign… ‘support your local businesses, this is how we grow our local economy…’ that bothers me, that we outside the county for the work to create the new county logo,” said Strauss.
County leaders over the past three weeks debated the new logo and what it means to the residents of Prince William County. At a recent meeting, communications director Grant told them the new logo means absolutely nothing.
“Symbolically, it doesn’t mean anything within itself, it’s adaptable… it’s intending to be ambiguous,” said Grant. “A brand it created by our interactions with the people, the interactions with the community… that’s what builds the brand, the logo doesn’t.”
The logo replaces about 20 logos used in individual county offices and departments. Official government functions like police, fire and rescue, and elected officials will continue to use the county Seal, said Grant.
