Above: Old and new visual identities for Oshawa Public Libraries
Below: Design for library cards

Oshawa PL gets a bright new visual identity, featuring bold and spring-like purple, pink and green tones. The logo itself looks like it is turning a corner leaving some speed lines in its wake. This is paired with the tagline “Find Yourself Here”, which has a clever double meaning. So clever, in fact, that it’s also been used by folks like the Missouri Historical Society and Worthington Libraries (who seem to have moved on from that line since winning the John Cotton Dana Award in 2011). Well, I guess you can’t keep a good tagline down.

Unless my eyes deceive me, there seems to be something interesting going on with the logo colours. In some iterations of the logo (like at the top or immediately below), the colours are bright, almost fluorescent. But on the Events newsletter (below) or library card design, the colours appear muted. Intentional?

Above: New logo with tagline
Below: A snapshot of the library’s webpage with new visual identity

Redesigned Events Newsletter

Above: Old and new visual identities for Rochester Public Library

A new visual identity for Rochester Public Library (that of MN, not NY) features what looks like four books squared up spine-to-spine in an appealing library blue (certainly among the top colours for library identities). This was obviously a much-needed update.

When I asked (on Twitter) who worked on the rebranding, I was told that it was a combination of an (unnamed) local design firm and additional work by the Library’s graphic designer.

Below: A snapshot of the library’s webpage with new visual identity

Above: Social media header featuring redesigned library cards and the tagline “Get carded.”

“Lemke said the new logo, along with new library cards and marketing materials, will help spread the library’s message of vitality, in the building and in the community.

The library’s rebrand comes after years of using the same logo and visual identity, which has its roots in a 1995 design contest, even though the library has experienced a major shift in programs and services in recent years.

“The library’s (most recent) logo has been around since 2006, but a lot has changed since then,” Lemke said.

In addition to receiving the National Medal earlier this year, the library was recently recognized at the American Library Association’s annual conference by winning a John Cotton Dana award for public relations.”

Randy Peterson, Post Bulletin, “Library Upgrades Visual Identity“, Aug. 2, 2018

Small aside: there’s a surprising (and coincidental, no doubt) similarity between this Rochester Public Library’s new logo and their sister Rochester Public Library in New York (show below). Books intersecting with an open centre – I’m onto something, right?