Here is the logo:
The new logo for Ilfracombe. Do you think it looks like a sperm?
Here is the reason behind it:
New brand says “Take another look at Ilfracombe and be surprised”
Representing Ilfracombe’s business community, Ron Ley, Director of Charterwell Homes said, “It is important that Ilfracombe looks at how it currently positions itself in the market and where it would like to position itself. Ilfracombe has not always been consistently presented as the quality destination it is and it is this lack of consistency and targeting of the lower-spend market that we aim to redress.”
A considerable amount of background work and collective thinking informed the process and development of the brand. Consultants Fresh Bread Marketing had a brainstorming session
in the summer with representatives from Ilfracombe’s tourism, retail and business
communities as well as Ilfracombe Town Council and North Devon Council. They were given the difficult task of encapsulating Ilfracombe’s fascinating and appealing attributes into one logo, strapline and brand that reflects and reinforces the distinctive essence of Ilfracombe.
Fresh Bread’s Tessa Martin said, “Ilfracombe is a fresh, intriguing place to visit with an
impressive landscape. It is steeped in and continues to offer a maritime experience and has a strong cultural theme with a fascinating Victorian heritage.” She continued, “The new
Ilfracombe logo, with its idiosyncratic ‘swirl’ above the ‘i’ indicates intrigue, mystery and
drama expressed with a spot of humour and fun too. It also reflects the twists and turns of
the landscape and can conjure up thoughts of the seaside, sea, an ice-cream, the harbour and fish.”
The logo incorporates the strapline “Curious Coastal Charm” – three words that evoke some of Ilfracombe’s best characteristics. Curious reflects the intriguing, edgy elements including
its arts and events; coastal communicates harbour, paths and dining and sports
opportunities; charm evokes Ilfracombe’s community spirit and individual appeal, fun for kids, couples and families.
Further devices to enhance the brand are included in the brand identity manual as well as a new image library that includes photographs specially commissioned and some submitted in Ilfracombe Town Council’s photograph competition. They have been selected to show fresh
angles and different perspectives compelling viewers to take a second look whilst always presenting Ilfracombe as a high quality contemporary seaside destination.
Access to the logos and images is through http://www.theilfracombecentre.co.uk under the
heading ‘About Ilfracombe’. The Brand Identity Manual explains how to get the most effective expression of the Ilfracombe brand and is free to use but the strict guidelines must be followed to ensure consistency, quality and continued brand recognition.
Brand guidelines should be found here:
http://www.theilfracombecentre.co.uk/media/logos/Ilfracombe-Brand-Identity-Guidelines.pdf
AMENDED: It appears as if the £40,000 wasn’t for the logo (originally read in the south devon version of the journal website) it was £5000 including the photographs. That sounds a lot more like it.
Unfortunately it appears as if it was miss-quoted from Cllr Philip Webb: http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Ilfracombe-ferries-new-identity/article-1529371-detail/article.html
However the logo is still poor and a huge missed opportunity for Ilfracombe. The main problem we have with it is that there is actually a really good idea in there which has been missed. The strapline ‘Curious Costal Charm’ is nice. Really nice actually, mostly because at last someone has said something marketable about Ilfracombe that is actually true. The problem is that the logo doesn’t seem to relate to this in any way. I’d have been really honest about the town in a marmite/VW sort of way. Shabby around the edges, faded glories, but a real heart and beautiful if look hard enough.
As stated on various blogs, we think the logo looks a lot like a sperm on the i (or is it just us?). In a town with a high rate of teenage pregnancy were not so sure it was that wise.
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