Council picks new logo for city
The Hermosa Beach City Council last week decided among these two possibilities as the basis of a new logo, ultimately going with Option B, on the right. Logos designed by Daniel Inez
Daniel Inez has spent the past few months pulled in competing directions.
The South Bay native was selected in August from among 48 candidates to design a “refresh” of Hermosa Beach’s logo. And when he unveiled two possibilities at last week’s City Council meeting, he confessed that he was torn between his desire as a graphic designer to create something bold and innovative, and his love of the rapidly changing place that reared him.
“I’m from here, born and raised in the Beach Cities, so this whole thing has been a constant struggle within me,” Inez told the council. “I’ve heard every which way from everybody.”
Hermosa’s council did not seem to have it much easier, dividing, closely if amicably, on the Inez submission that offered a greater break with the city’s current visual identity.
The decision tweaks the city’s existing logo, an “hb” offset within a circle intended to represent the Vetter windmill on Pacific Coast Highway. The refresh selected by the council puts the “hb” on top of ocean waves, and makes the blades of the windmill appear more like the rays of a sunburst. Hermosa’s official city seal will not change.
Elected officials made clear that they were interested in refreshing the logo nearly two years ago. Leeanne Singleton, an environmental analyst with the city, said last week that the city’s logo existing logo suffered from several issues. Its typeface sometimes makes it difficult to read at a distance, she said, and its appearance varies considerably across official usages. Unofficial usages are even more problematic: artists and businesses near and far make often make use of the city’s logo for their own ends, leading to what is known in the marketing world as “dilution” of a brand, or in some instances, to confusion about whether a message bears official status. The effort resembles ones being taken by cities across Southern California who, taking a page from the business world, are attempting to consolidate the imagery they deploy, from street signs to delinquent sewer bill notices.
“We want people when they look at our letterhead to instantly recognize it, as they would the Coca-Cola logo,” said Mayor pro tem Justin Massey.
Massey and Councilmember Stacey Armato preferred the Inez option with fewer changes. Along with maintaining the city’s heritage, Massey pointed out that the other option resembled the recently modified logo in Manhattan, who last summer replaced their traditional triptych of sun, sand, and surf with an image of the city’s pier above the ocean.
But the council majority was ultimately swayed by Inez’s preference for the newer model. Inez said that, by not making bigger changes to the logo, the city remained vulnerable to copycats.
“This is what I feel is the best compromise between these two colliding … not worlds, but points of view,” he said.