By R. R. Branstrom

rbranstrom@dailypress.net

GLADSTONE — Signage in Gladstone will look different in the future, as the city just adopted a new logo and branding package after collaborating with local marketing artists. The update is part of efforts to build recognition for the municipality and was identified as a goal in the master plan adopted by the city in August 2024.

Over the last year, the city has been making efforts to improve its online presence, including with a new website, a task undertaken by city employee Patricia West.

About a year ago, the Gladstone City Commission heard a proposal for a digital marketing campaign through Orange Cat Media, a brand-new company. The young professionals, based in Gladstone, specialize in photography, videography, social media, and graphic design. The city entered into a $10,000 12-month contract with Orange Cat in July 2024 for periodic photos and videos, including by drone; graphics and flyers as needed; and two to three social media posts per month; with city ownership of all assets created.

Finding a new logo was part of the greater movement to propel Gladstone into vibrant modernity and make the town an attractive destination for both tourists and potential property buyers. Orange Cat subcontracted Cap Creative Co. (formerly “Art by O. Cap,” i.e. Olivia Capodilupo, also of Gladstone) for the mission.

“Pursuing a refreshed and cohesive brand identity is a natural progression in ensuring a consistent and professional visual narrative,” read West’s report to City Commission on Monday. “…While there is no intention of replacing all existing physical assets–such as signage or vehicle decals, the city hopes to adopt and implement the new branding guide for all materials moving forward.”

The old logo featured a round clip-art type icon with multiple sections representing the four seasons: a fiery sun and a sailboat for summer, an orange leaf and a whitetail buck for autumn, a skier and a snowflake for winter and a pink flower and a fish for spring. It illustrated the city’s motto, “year-round playground,” but it was very busy — impossible to translate completely to embroidery, and appearing as an indistinguishable blob when printed small. It was pixelated, outdated, and had been modified unofficially over the years, resulting in inconsistent variations.

The new logo presented to the commission on Monday was the product of collaboration between Orange Cat Media, Cap Creative Co., West, and Gladstone Parks and Recreation Director Wendy Taavola.

Its brand mark is a round, four-color graphic of a green pine tree in front of a yellow sun, navy blue waves, and light blue beams in the sky. All are very simplistic, solid-colored representations. A vector of the image can be scaled up and down without losing clarity; it may be digitized for embroidery while keeping definition; it can be printed on a number of materials, from business cards to garments to signs.

Variations on how the logo may be assembled with text are provided in the package. In the primary logo, “Gladstone” is written in a script called “Relation Two Bold,” and “Michigan” is printed below in all capital letters in a sans-serif font named “FinalSix Book.” Above the city and state name, flanking the round brand mark, is “Est. 1877,” also in the sans-serif font.

Guidance is included in the package from Orange Cat and Cap Creative on how to use and size the logo, including arranging it with names of the different city departments and boards for “seamless integration within the proposed branding system,” as West’s report put it.

The packet from the marketers included a description of the feeling they were trying to evoke with the design, suggesting:

“Our voice is friendly, proud, welcoming, and rooted in the simple joys of small-town life. We keep things warm and easygoing — like a chat at the local cafe or a walk along the lake. Whether you’re a lifelong local or just passing through, our tone invites you to slow down, enjoy the moment, and feel right at home.”

One question addressed to West and Taavola — the artists themselves were not at the commission meeting during which the package was presented — was whether “year-round playground” would remain as Gladstone’s motto.

Taavola responded to say that the beloved slogan is especially important to the recreation board, and the new logo allows for the words to be added when appropriate. It’s not part of the logo as a whole and won’t be printed on everything, but for things related to parks, “year-round playground” should definitely appear.

The City Commission approved the adoption of the new branding and the payment of a $3,000 invoice to Orange Cat Media from the Dr. Mary Cretens fund.

In other business at the regular meeting of April 28, the Gladstone City Commission:

– set a hearing for public input on appropriations ordinance 2025-632, about the fiscal year of April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. The hearing will take place at the next commission meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. on May 12.

– heard a proposed management and maintenance plan for a social district to potentially be established in the city. The commission agreed to set a hearing for citizens to receive information on the proposal as well; that will be held during the May 12 meeting.

– approved a revised service agreement between the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Parks and Recreation Department. When the parks department was understaffed, including lacking a director, the contract was reduced from $15,000 to $5,000. Now that the department is more equipped to aid the DDA with things like event preparation, farmers market services, trash collection, beautification and other duties, the DDA will pay them $10,000 during the 2025 to ’26 budget period.

– approved a special event permit application for Hot Rods and Harleys, sponsored by American Legion Riders Post 71, to close 8th Street from Superior Avenue to the alley between Delta and Minnesota Avenues and to close Delta Avenue between the parking lot at 808 Delta to the car wash at 720 Delta Ave. on the following dates: June 19, July 17, Aug. 21 and Sept. 18. Setup would begin around 3 p.m., and cleanup would wrap around or before 9 p.m.Speaking for the Legion Riders, John “Tiger” VanBrocklin said that the last Hot Rods and Harleys events have been so busy they’ve had to turn people away. Closing the streets would allow more attendance at the charity fundraising event.

– heard grievances of a citizen concerned about a number of perceived safety issues in Van Cleve Park.

David Fairbanks pointed out that all bathroom facilities in the park are locked and inaccessible from November through April, at odds with Gladstone’s attempts to be a year-round recreation destination.

Another complaint was about litter; he suggested that the trash cans in Van Cleve Park be emptied more often and trash collected from the ground.

Fairbanks also stated that trees are being damaged, perhaps by youth or by vagrants to build shelters, and said that he was worried about undersupervised children at Kids Kingdom potentially being at risk. He had previously met with City Manager Eric Buckman and Sergeant Aaron Quinlan.