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Spartanburg: Creative Energy


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The Spartanburg Downtown Association really liked the identity that came from the Spartanburg 175 logo. Apparantly people really connected with Spartanburg as a city. I'm not sure how you judge that, but one can assume that people liked the 175 stickers and banners and such. It also helped to create a common bond between businesses and residents, etc. This new logo will attempt to do the same thing. "This design will be prominent around town for the next 18 months, featured on items such as shirts, stickers, posters, caps and mobiles."

Its title: "Spartanburg: Creative Energy"

Unfortunately the HJ did not see it fit to share with us what this logo looks like online. <_< So if anyone has the image from the paper and a scanner, please help us out. If not then hopefully it will be on a website soon so we can share it.

Here's what we know: "It features a series of colored shapes, resembling humans and birds that interlock to make a circle."

This won't replace the city's sylized "S" logo, or the City seal.

Aritcle

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So if this isn't replacing the "S" logo, what purpose does this additional logo serve?

I would hope that Spartanburg would choose one to be consistently displayed throughout the city (on city service vehicles, street signs, wayfinding sings, etc.), not unlike Greenville's logo.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Where did you find that? I've been looking all over for it!

I don't see how it looks like birds any humans either. It looks like blobs to me. I can see some human and bird-like blobs though. Thats cool though. I'm sure they put a lot of thought into it or something.

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Where did you find that? I've been looking all over for it!

I don't see how it looks like birds any humans either. It looks like blobs to me. I can see some human and bird-like blobs though. Thats cool though. I'm sure they put a lot of thought into it or something.

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Wow. This thing shockingly lacks unique character. The only thing that makes it unique to Spartanburg is the city's name under the logo. :dunno:

Edit: On second thought, it is kind of ironic that the subtitle says, "Creative Energy," yet the logo itself seems to lack that. :lol:

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I actually like the logo, but not for a city. The logo to me looks like the brain, in multi-color. :lol: The brain does go with "creative energy". I see this more as something for a science fair. It has no characteristic unique or telling about any city. This could be contrived for any city. Spartanburg should play on one of it's many strengths with logos. :thumbsup:

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We have way too many logos as it is. At least Greenville's makes sense as it resembles the Reedy River and is everywhere. Being from Spartanburg it's hard to find "the official logo" around town. In Greenville the same logo is on signage welcoming you to the city, on buses, wayfinding signs downtown, etc, etc... It seems the only time I see ours in Spartanburg is on the parking ticket writer lady's car downtown or on the garbage truck. This may all stem from not liking the current city logo as it is but its my two cents.

Also, the new billboard across from Starbucks on Pine Street for the Chapman Cultural Center. It has taken at least a week of driving by it to figure out what it is as its so unreadable.

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The "S" is on every street sign in the city (the ones on the posts, not the large overhead ones). Its on all city-related things too (cars, ads, website, etc). I agree that it could and should be more prominent though. Perhaps someone from the downtown association should explain what exactly this new bloby thing is for. I thought that I understood it at first, but now I'm not so sure.

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  • 9 months later...

Ok, so now this Creative Energy thing is making a lot more sense. There is a good article in the HJ today that gives a lot of background on what this thing is. Apparently we are borrowing this idea from a town called Pittsfield, PA. They were able to use a "Create Pittsfield" initiative to bring their town back from the dead. They lost a MAJOR employer, and people had a negative view of their town... but by embracing the creative class they have been able to revive themselves.

Basically, we have all of the elements to make Spartanburg a great city form that cultural perspective... we just need to tie it all together and get the community involved. This thing appears to be less of a "City" function and more of a community effort that I originally thought it was.

"[A] personal finance magazine, ranked 137 cities last year on the percentage of its work force in a creative class, its bohemian indicator (or its concentration of arts, cultural amenities and diversity), its cost of living index and the percentage of salary growth among the creative class.[...] Although Spartanburg didn't make the top 25, the area has virtually the same bohemian score as Asheville, N.C., and Memphis and ranked sixth on the list for salary growth among the creative class."

Spartanburg also topped the list in engineering and education talent clusters for mid-sized metropolitan cities (including arts, advertising and marketing, design, legal, media and research).

The Spartanburg: Creative Energy initiative will involve some of the following:

  • "Picture This," 10-foot-by-8-foot metal frame is moved monthly around the city... people can stand inside the frame and snap a photograph. Eventually, the frame could become part of a permanent art exhibit.

  • A contest to update Spartanburg's postcards

  • informational kiosks will be placed on college campuses and on Main Street to promote Spartanburg's activities and events.

  • In the fall, top Spartanburg chefs will prepare designer dishes, and the public will have a chance to taste their specialties.

This sounds like a great initiative. I look forward to see that the other ideas are.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The "Creative Energy" campaign has officially kicked off.

creativeenergy.jpg

The kick off event unveiled a new website for this effort. It includes a nice video and other bits of information. I found this quote to be most interesting: At the end of the campaign, organizers hope to see an increase in usage of city venues and facilities, more participation in city events and programs, higher retail sales, a population increase, more available housing, a decrease in crime and fewer high school dropouts. So, this campaign is really more than "art" its about community enhancement, and pride- all of which lead to a better city.

And of particular interest to me is this quote from Mayor Barnet: To encourage students to return to Spartanburg after they graduate college and to attract newcomers, Spartanburg must tout its creativity and to engage the creativity of its residents.

http://www.spartanburgcreativeenergy.com/

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