Tartan, Trains Part of Aberdeen Logo

As of Saturday, May 14, 2011

Aberdeen has a different look thanks to a newly unveiled town brand.

The new logo features a blue and green shield bordered in gold with a train at the top and the town’s incorporation date of 1893 at the bottom.

A red tartan swath wraps around the middle of the shield.

The banners began going up around town Thursday.

The design, created by Glenn and Maria Nocik, of Nocik Designs and American Classic Signs in Concord, is one that Aberdeen Town Manager Bill Zell hopes will make people take a second look at Aberdeen.

“It’s going to help people know where Aberdeen is,” he said. “I am excited to see it get out and to see how people will use it.”

The town plans to display the new brand prominently by placing it in visible locations in town buildings, as well as hanging logoed banners around town.

Some will include the tag line “Shop at the Cross Roads.”

Zell said he hopes to see “a lot of different uses” for the new logo.

Selecting a new town brand has been a long, involved process that began more than a year ago. It included plenty of input from local residents and business owners through meetings and surveys.

The town board of commissioners helped whittle the choices down to a select few. Those brands and slogans were put to a vote on the town’s website to narrow the field.

Planning Director Kathy Liles said she is pleased with the design.

“It’s been a really long process,” she said. “When you look at some of the early designs, you really see how far we have come.”

The intent of the branding initiative is to emphasize the reason why people come to Aberdeen. The focus of the brand is more on economic development and Aberdeen as a destination rather than just another town.

Before completion, the logo went through many versions, but one thing remained a constant — an image of a train.

“You can never get away from the train here,” Liles said. “It’s so important to our history.”

Contact Tom Embrey at tembrey@thepilot.com.

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Bill 2 years ago

Living in Aberdeen for many years I think they do a very nice job here. To help promote the the town I think they also need to put the letters NC on it also. There are many other towns name Aberdeen in the United States. Also I would like to see them sell T-shirts, sweatshirts, polo shirts (nice ones) with their logo to help maybe promote our town. But please do not gouge the consumer, for after all we are promoting our town. A few dollars profit is okay but when you over charge people will buy less and then people will tend not to buy and then a course less people will know about our town. We also need to promote our downtown, how about something like Southern Pines does for Spring Fest. But what ever you do, do no let it get stale and have the same thing over and over again with the same crafts and the same foods every single year. Just make it nice and fresh and the crowds will grow and keep coming back.

How about promoting it like your logo about trains. Call it Hobo Days, have kids become Engineers, Conductors. Brakemen, Carmens etc. for a day explain about how trains work or ( to the parents) why we sit at crossing for 15 minutes at a time. Kids love trains, and they have been around well over a 100 years.

truthmatterstome2 2 years ago

Do you really believe that a banner with a 1940's train and a Christmas ribbon will entice people to come to Aberdeen. Why not advertise Aberdeen in the present? By the way, just how much did this "work of art" cost the town?

mymindwanders 2 years ago

I think it's nice. At least they are doing something to promote Aberdeen and it's business's It's amazing how no matter what anyone does, someones gonna have a problem with it.Lighten up.