THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9612170515
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 109 lines
PORTSMOUTH HAS two new looks - at least on paper.
The new ``corporate'' image is the blue wave pictured at right.
The new ``marketing'' image is composed of the graphics that border these pages.
The cover of Currents today is a replica of a banner made from the graphic arts created for the marketing of the city. the design is proposed to take the place of banners now on High Street in Olde Towne.
``We have two different things going here, and both are important,'' said Ken Wheeler, the city's director of marketing and communications.
The new corporate logo is designed to last, he said.
``It needs to have staying power, but it also needs to be unique and say something about Portsmouth,'' he said.
``The sails and the water in this new graphic say something about this city.''
Marketing has a different criteria, according to Wheeler.
``The graphics need to be colorful, to catch attention, to make a quick statement,'' he said. ``If the designs aren't outdated in three or four years, they are not current enough now.''
Lynn Harrisburger, an award-winning designer hired by the city to create the marketing materials, came up with ``graphics in motion,'' Wheeler said.
``This is not a fixed graphic,'' he pointed out. ``It has many parts and can be used in many colors. It's not your usual static thing.''
The seven colors picked by Harrisburger for the graphics were described by Wheeler as ``extremely now colors'' - teal, hot pink, purple, orange, among others.
``This graphic is very adaptable because you can use any part of it,'' Wheeler said.
The contempory graphics were planned to work with the city's new advertising theme line: ``The energy is growing.''
Wheeler said the key words for the new marketing approach are exceptional, energetic and exciting.
``We want to convey fun and excitement in marketing the city,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Wheeler and his committee of other city employees looked at the variety of letterheads and business cards now in use by their co-workers and decided to design a new universal logo for use on all of them.
``We're all part of one corporation: the city,'' Wheeler said. ``We need an identifying graphic to bring all the agencies together.''
Currently, the official stationery uses old English type and the city seal. Most people choose their own style for business cards.
The corporate design was a product of the Public Information Group (otherwise known as PIG), made up of about 30 representatives of various components of the city - city agencies, constitutional offices, council appointees, schools, courts and redevelopment and housing authority.
``We started meeting in April, and LaVoris Pace, our new graphic artist, came up with 30 different ways we could use the boats and water,'' he said.
``From there we did some fine-tuning , and everybody agreed on the design as you now see it.''
The development of the logo by city staff is unusual, Wheeler said.
``Santa Monica paid $50,000 to a consultant for the same work,'' he added.
The logo can be used any size and either in black-and-white or three shades of blue. It will be blown up to maximum size next spring when the city paints it on a water tank in Churchland.
Wheeler said the development of the logo was timed to coincide with the change in the telephone area code in Hampton Roads.
``The 804 code will be totally obsolete on Feb. 1,'' Wheeler said. ``All city stationary will have to be changed by then anyway. We have the new logo ready.''
For departments who needed printing between April and now, the city print shop prepared only enough to last a few months.
``By Feb. 1, everbody will be using the new logo.,'' Wheeler said.
He quickly added that by changing the logo, the city was not eliminating the traditional seal.
The city signed a three-year contract with Harrisburger and agreed to spend at least $120,000 through the agency.
``At the end of the three years, we'll take a hard look at results before we extend it,'' Wheeler said.
The use of the new graphics will begin in the spring.
``We don't have a traditional advertising program because we don't have a big budget,'' he said.
But that doesn't mean Portsmouth can't attract tourists.
``Virginia Beach and Williamsburg spend $4 million to $6 million a year to bring people in here,'' he said.
``Portsmouth money will be spent to get a percentage of those people to Portsmouth.''
In addition to attracting tourists, the goals of the marketing group will be to improve Portsmouth's image and to ``position Portsmouth as the city of choice'' for visitors, residents and businesses, to create new job opportunities and to increase tax revenues to the city.
The versatility of the new marketing graphics, Wheeler said, will give the city many choices.
``And it's time for this face lift,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Ken Wheeler, the city's marketing director, says the new advertising
theme- ``The energy is growing'' - is exceptional, energetic and
exciting. ``We want to convey fun and excitement in marketing the
city,'' he said.
Lynn Harrisburger, an award-winning designer hired by the city to
create the marketing materials, came up with ``graphics in motion,''
Ken Wheeler said. The seven colors picked by Harrisburger for the
graphics were described by Wheeler as ``extremely now colors.''
The new corporate logo - in three shades of blue - is designed to
last, Ken Wheeler says. ``...but it also needs to be unique and say
something about Portsmouth.''
KEYWORDS: by CNB