Oh, Canada! Vancouver’s City Council Nixes New Logo After Two Months

The top image will reclaim its Vancouver logo status following the panning of the bottom representation. (Image provided by CTV)

This has proven a perplexing year for residents of Vancouver. Fans of the British Columbia destination’s Canucks endured a lackluster campaign that ended with their heroes owning the National Hockey League’s second-worst mark, and everyone interested in seeing the city’s identity advertised in a revamped light saw that desire dulled when City Council approved what has become a much-maligned logo. Come June 23, the sports organization will cure supporters’ sadness when announcing the fifth overall pick in the draft, and by the fall, Mayor Gregor Robertson, along with the aforementioned legislative body, could solve citizens’ civic conundrum by issuing another visual lure, as the latter voted yesterday to cancel the symbol’s rollout.

The now-abandoned wordmark had met with approval in late February, with a report noting the winning company had submitted the lowest bid. Judging by the reactions that inhabitants have given, one could invoke the “You get what you pay for” adage, as the under-$8,000 price tag has not yielded much in the way of originality or eye appeal. The full rejection of the artwork follows a March declaration by Robertson that he would be halting the rollout due to immediate flak from the creative community. Members’ rejections made clear that the end product had not fulfilled a City staff report’s aim to craft an “updated image of the City of Vancouver as a modern, innovative and highly desirable place to live and work.”

Along with scrapping the green-and-blue logo, the Vancouver council announced they will work with British Columbia’s chapter of the Graphic Designers of Canada for a replacement, with the flower-inclusive old identifier reclaiming its status as the artistic greeter. As with most conversations concerning change, opinions on even going forward with talks for a new logo have met with mixed opinions, with one Vancouver Sun reader saying the politicians “need to stop wasting time and money over something so frivolous” and Councilman Geoff Meggs telling the CTV Television Network “The current one is not working in all the ways it should and could.”