Barry
06-15-2010, 01:11 PM
Back to the drawing board for Sebastopol sign- Watch Sonoma County (https://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2010/06/cities/back-to-the-drawing-board-for-sebastopol-sign/)
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
https://www.watchsonomacounty.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/newsebastopolsign-300x225.jpgDissatisfied with a proposed design for the “gateway” signs for Sebastopol’s entrances, the city will hold a design competition aimed at getting something that better fits its unique, and some say, quirky identity.
The current design by Ross-Luthin Creative in Santa Rosa places the city’s slogan, “Local Flavor, Global Vision,” on a seven-foot-tall sign with a trellis-like look.
The proposal has room for the three current messages on the city’s eastern entrance that proclaim Sebastopol as a Nuclear Free Zone, name its sister cities and identify it as home to the Analy High School Tigers.
However, several council members view the design as uninspired.
“This is a pretty common sign that you see around for businesses and grocery stores,” said
Councilwoman Kathleen Shaffer. “While it is not a bad design, it is rather commonplace.”
Councilman Guy Wilson also thought the design too generic for Sebastopol.
“This is an opportunity to reach out to our local artists and people in the community,” Wilson said. “It’s a sincere effort on the part of the council to respond to the message from the community that they want to participate in these civic and artistic projects.”
The consultant was paid $24,800 to design the directional signs, which the city is now buying, and the gateway signs, which also were recommended for adoption by the city’s staff.
“We thought it achieved the purpose we were trying to do, but aesthetics are what captures the essence of Sebastopol, the city, and there is a fair amount of subjective judgement to that,” Planning Director Kenyon Webster said. “We want to get it right. It is an important symbolic feature of city identity.”
The competition will be structured to weed out designs that are too weird, wacky, unreasonable or unbuildable. It requires the designer to also have the ability to build and install the sign within the city’s budget, although the city currently has no money allocated for the signs.
“We have to build it in the real world,” Webster said. “There could be many beautiful, wonderful ideas that may not be practicable. It can be beautiful, but it has to work and be affordable.”
The city held a competition in 2002 to replace the city’s logo, but the successful design was rejected after some said it appeared to have the suggestion of a swastika in the city’s name.
Unlike that competition, which offered a $500 prize, this time the entrants are donating their energy and talent for free.
Councilman Larry Robinson is concerned this competition will again go nowhere.
“I just can’t imagine a process that will produce a design that everybody is going to like,” Robinson said. “The council at some point needs to show some leadership and make a decision. That is what we are elected to do, not poll the community for every issue and try to please everybody.”
Shaffer, however, said she is ready to accept the decision of a committee of the council and community members she wants formed as part of the process.
“I think since we have gone down this road, I will put my faith in that committee’s selection and go by their decision,” Shaffer said.
The City Council already has accepted the consultant’s design for the city’s directional signs, meant to help 14,000 motorists a day find locations within the city and to drive quickly through Sebastopol.
The 48 signs are uniform in appearance and will direct people to local venues such as parking lots, Ives Pool and City Hall, and to Russian River, Bodega Bay, Santa Rosa, Graton and Cotati.
Sebastopol has a single gateway sign on Highway 12 with its designation as a Nuclear Free Zone, which was adopted in 1985 during an international movement to get such declarations worldwide. The sign also identifies Sebastopol’s sister cities and its Analy High School.
Sebastopol wants that sign replaced and gateway signs added to the western entrance on Highway 116 and at the north and south ends of the city.
The consultant had recommended that the sign have the fewest slogans possible, with three as a maximum to avoid clutter. That could mean leaving out some or all of the messages and civic organizations which Sebastopol holds dear.
“I understand they say you don’t want a lot of clutter, but we have a lot of clutter here, we have signs for a lot of non-profits, that is what it is all about, we do have a lot of groups and organizations,” Shaffer said.
“It is very subjective art, it is in the eye of the beholder, but the icons of Sebastopol, the apple and some of the affiliations we have, there is probably a clever way of putting it together in an image,” Wilson said.
The city staff is drawing up contests guidelines to be submitted at some future council meeting, Webster said.
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
https://www.watchsonomacounty.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/newsebastopolsign-300x225.jpgDissatisfied with a proposed design for the “gateway” signs for Sebastopol’s entrances, the city will hold a design competition aimed at getting something that better fits its unique, and some say, quirky identity.
The current design by Ross-Luthin Creative in Santa Rosa places the city’s slogan, “Local Flavor, Global Vision,” on a seven-foot-tall sign with a trellis-like look.
The proposal has room for the three current messages on the city’s eastern entrance that proclaim Sebastopol as a Nuclear Free Zone, name its sister cities and identify it as home to the Analy High School Tigers.
However, several council members view the design as uninspired.
“This is a pretty common sign that you see around for businesses and grocery stores,” said
Councilwoman Kathleen Shaffer. “While it is not a bad design, it is rather commonplace.”
Councilman Guy Wilson also thought the design too generic for Sebastopol.
“This is an opportunity to reach out to our local artists and people in the community,” Wilson said. “It’s a sincere effort on the part of the council to respond to the message from the community that they want to participate in these civic and artistic projects.”
The consultant was paid $24,800 to design the directional signs, which the city is now buying, and the gateway signs, which also were recommended for adoption by the city’s staff.
“We thought it achieved the purpose we were trying to do, but aesthetics are what captures the essence of Sebastopol, the city, and there is a fair amount of subjective judgement to that,” Planning Director Kenyon Webster said. “We want to get it right. It is an important symbolic feature of city identity.”
The competition will be structured to weed out designs that are too weird, wacky, unreasonable or unbuildable. It requires the designer to also have the ability to build and install the sign within the city’s budget, although the city currently has no money allocated for the signs.
“We have to build it in the real world,” Webster said. “There could be many beautiful, wonderful ideas that may not be practicable. It can be beautiful, but it has to work and be affordable.”
The city held a competition in 2002 to replace the city’s logo, but the successful design was rejected after some said it appeared to have the suggestion of a swastika in the city’s name.
Unlike that competition, which offered a $500 prize, this time the entrants are donating their energy and talent for free.
Councilman Larry Robinson is concerned this competition will again go nowhere.
“I just can’t imagine a process that will produce a design that everybody is going to like,” Robinson said. “The council at some point needs to show some leadership and make a decision. That is what we are elected to do, not poll the community for every issue and try to please everybody.”
Shaffer, however, said she is ready to accept the decision of a committee of the council and community members she wants formed as part of the process.
“I think since we have gone down this road, I will put my faith in that committee’s selection and go by their decision,” Shaffer said.
The City Council already has accepted the consultant’s design for the city’s directional signs, meant to help 14,000 motorists a day find locations within the city and to drive quickly through Sebastopol.
The 48 signs are uniform in appearance and will direct people to local venues such as parking lots, Ives Pool and City Hall, and to Russian River, Bodega Bay, Santa Rosa, Graton and Cotati.
Sebastopol has a single gateway sign on Highway 12 with its designation as a Nuclear Free Zone, which was adopted in 1985 during an international movement to get such declarations worldwide. The sign also identifies Sebastopol’s sister cities and its Analy High School.
Sebastopol wants that sign replaced and gateway signs added to the western entrance on Highway 116 and at the north and south ends of the city.
The consultant had recommended that the sign have the fewest slogans possible, with three as a maximum to avoid clutter. That could mean leaving out some or all of the messages and civic organizations which Sebastopol holds dear.
“I understand they say you don’t want a lot of clutter, but we have a lot of clutter here, we have signs for a lot of non-profits, that is what it is all about, we do have a lot of groups and organizations,” Shaffer said.
“It is very subjective art, it is in the eye of the beholder, but the icons of Sebastopol, the apple and some of the affiliations we have, there is probably a clever way of putting it together in an image,” Wilson said.
The city staff is drawing up contests guidelines to be submitted at some future council meeting, Webster said.