Manatee Adopts New Logo Keeps Old Seal

BRADENTON -- The De Soto boat logo has been the official seal of Manatee County since 1973, while also doubling as its logo in most instances. In recent years, county officials have been on a mission to rebrand Manatee with a new and consistent marketing strategy. At Tuesday's BOCC meeting, commissioners sealed the deal. 

The previous and somewhat official seal/logo were two versions of the same theme. There is a not so obvious mono-color wood-carved De Soto boat, with a silhouette of sun and waves at the stern that can be seen hanging in front of and behind the commissioners when they're in chambers.

The other actually consists of a more sharply-animated copy (pictured below); bright blue with illuminating sun and hull. This is the one we see on the doors of trucks and on the shirts of county workers. 

Originally, commissioners were to vote on replacing the old "official" seal with the more commonly seen one. However, that vote didn't occur and both "seal" images will continue to be used  in their current fashion.

The adoption of Resolution 14-11, which passed by a 6 to 1 vote (Gallen dissenting), changes the practice of using the seal design for marketing purposes as well.

What will replace it, is soft in color and easy with design. County residents have actually been seeing a version of it for the last year or two.

In 2012, the BOCC formally began their new branding campaign with the a version of the design adopted Tuesday. First with the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, then MCAT bus benches and on bus stop shelters.

Now the new design is headed for county letter heads, presentations, business cards, fleet vehicles and uniforms, bringing the marketing strategy consistency has come full circle.

The county said prior to the meeting that its use would be phased in as part of routine maintenance to avoid the cost of re-branding current property.

"We're not asking departments to incur additional costs by rebranding everything over night," explained Manatee County Information Outreach Manager Nick Azarra in an email. "As stated in the agenda, the new logo will replace the old as part of the routine replacement schedules for signage, uniforms, vehicles, etc."

Not everyone is happy, or feel they have had enough time to think about actually changing Manatee County's logo, the one so many have become accustom to, which is the reason Commissioner Gallen voted against the move. Gallen says he thinks Manatee residents should have some time to consider the new design.

New County Logo	Manatee County Seal