PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Several versions of a new logo were considered in the search for what symbol should represent Prince William County.
Now that use of the infamous “blue box” logo has been halted, prior versions of a new logo for the county produced before the blue box design have been made public.
In what’s referred to the “prototype” logo with “Prince William, Virginia” written in blue and green, the image features a globe with a soaring American Eagle, and stars encircling the globe. It was the most favored of a series of sample logos developed by Baltimore creative firm Rouge Shard as part of an $12,500 contract to rebrand the county-run TV following the addition of Verizon Fios TV service in Prince William.
None of the logos developed by Rouge Shard were ever implemented, and the county ultimately went with a“crown” logo created by a county employee to rebrand its government channel, featuring the letters P-W-C.
MORE to the STORY: See the versions of logos submitted by creative firm Rouge Shard
As for the the eagle and globe design, it was thought to speak more to defense contractors and to the Federal Government. And when Prince William County Economic Development Director Jeff Kaczemerek was hired in 2012, a decision was made to develop another logo that would speak to businesses across the board, developed by Michigan-based David Castlegrant and Associates for $750.
“It was determined that it would be best to develop a logo that did not have any connotative meaning due to the broad scope and differences of audiences. So, Economic Development worked to develop a logo that would be accepted by a broad audience and attributed solely as ‘Prince William County’ in any literal sense, and allow a connotative brand that could be built over time,” Prince William County Communications Director Jason Grant staded in an email to elected officials.
The blue box logo was ordered by Kaczmarek’s office, and it went on to appear on road signs, newsletters, county computers, letterhead, and business cards. In some areas, replaced the County Seal used for decades to define the county.
Elected leaders grew salty when they claimed a new logo was chosen without direction of the Board of Supervisors.
This week, Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland sent a massive Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Grant’s office seeking documents, emails, and notes detailing information about the Rouge Shard design contract, the Castlegrant and Associates contract, information on any other outside contractors working on logos, and information on a special county rebranding committee initially formed to approve a new logo, but that was soon disbanded shortly into its work sessions.
“There are two questions that I am trying to get to the bottom of: Was the proper process used during this whole logo situation, whether this was something that was properly vetted by the Board of Supervisors, and more importantly, was this a proper use of taxpayer money?” asked Candland.
Candland said a constituent forwarded him a link to information on the county website Rouge Shard contract, which he was not previously aware of.
Grant said his office, along with the County Attorney’s office, would be responsible for filling the FOIA request. Because of the workload and cost to produce the documents, it may require a special directive from the Board of Supervisors for the FOIA request to be fulfilled.
