East Dundee rolls out rebranding efforts with new logo, banners

A redesigned logo and new banners for the downtown are the first steps of a rebranding initiative being launched by East Dundee.

For more than a year, village officials have been discussing updating and beautifying downtown signage, which has conflicting messages and designs throughout the area. To achieve that goal, identified in a strategic planning session, the first action was creating a new logo that could be used universally throughout the village.

The village board this week agreed to move ahead with a circular logo containing a modern condensed typeface and slab serif accents. The blend of fonts and simple design elements represents "a nice mixture of both the vintage and history, and how East Dundee is trying to reinvent itself," Trustee Kathleen Mahony said.

Zeller Marketing and Design, a marketing agency in downtown East Dundee, worked for free to create six unique logo concepts, which were evaluated and narrowed down by a general village committee comprising trustees Scott Andresen, Kirstin Wood and Jeff Lynam.

The symbol chosen Monday by the village board comes with alternative designs that complement the main logo and can be used on a variety of signs, letterheads and banners.

"This is step one in having an actual unified brand in the village," Andresen said. "There's going to be a lot more involved in this."

Trustees also unanimously approved purchasing two sets of banners containing key words that represent the downtown: depot, events, food and East Dundee. The banners, which cost about $15,000, will be put up along Route 72, River Street and Barrington Avenue.

The village has budgeted about $50,000 so far for rebranding efforts, including a $35,000 donation made available through a settlement with Carpentersville's Otto Engineering. The contribution is earmarked for downtown beautification and marketing plans.

Money not used by April 30 will be rolled over into the next fiscal year, when officials plan to purchase new entryway signage and potentially update other downtown signs, Village Administrator Jennifer Johnsen said. East Dundee also expects to request funds for developing a new website, where the village's redesigned logo will be implemented.