NoCo and SoBa?

[thelakelander]

What do you think of rebranding the Northbank and Southbank into NoCo and SoBa? The Downtown Investment Authority wants to know:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/dtjax-brand-survey

[marcuscnelson]

...is this a joke? Are you joking right now?

[jaxlongtimer]

I did the survey and gave no more than a 1 or 2 to all of it.  Looks very amatuer-ish.  Reflects what's wrong with Downtown.  Uninspiring, boring, dull, blah...  Is this really the best they can do?  Would be interested in who came up with these designs, colors and names... the summer intern?

I ended by saying they should hold a competition to get much better options.

[marcuscnelson]

Well... damn.

One thing about the Downtown Vision Statement:

Downtown Jacksonville is a collection of neighborhoods knit together by a celebrated history, a spirit of rejuvenation and a proximity and access to the city's St. Johns riverfront. The growing emphasis on exploration by bike and on foot has given downtown the feeling of a place built for people—and not just one kind of person, but all the people who call Jacksonville home—young and old, tech worker and city worker, startup and corporate office.

While each neighborhood offers residents and visitors its own particular atmosphere and personality, the whole of downtown has become synergistic and seamless. The riverfront has come to life and brought the life of downtown back with it – an invitation for residents and visitors to wander through the historic richness, vibrancy and variety of downtown.

Notice the complete lack of anything about "digital infrastructure" or "innovation" or really any of the reasons JTA are trying to justify the U2C with?

Even putting that aside... this is kind of a nothing statement, isn't it? There are a lot of words here, but it doesn't really say much of anything.

The logos are... painfully bland, honestly. They do nothing to make me think downtown is worth driving out of the suburbs for, much less a distinctive brand that would be representative of "a global leader in digital innovation" or really a leader in anything. The LaVilla and Brooklyn logos are the least worst, I guess, but I don't think that should say much.

[Captain Zissou]

I gave an 8 to the DT Jax logo with the buildings.  I was not supportive of the rest.  Why is this what we're spending our time and money on?

[Tacachale]

I liked and supported several of them. NoCo and SoBa were not among those. Talk about amateur hour.

[Ken_FSU]

Meanwhile, the Laura Street Trio, VyStar garage, Jones Furniture Building, Ambassador Hotel, Independent Life Building, Jacksonville Landing, Ford on Bay, Federal Reserve Building, Baptist Convention Building, First Baptist campus, Jacksonville Shipyards, Lot J, Times-Union/Morris property, Berkman II, and District remain undeveloped.

The DIA has gleefully championed the demolition of the old Courthouse, City Hall Annex, Jacksonville Landing, Hart Bridge Ramps, Doro Fixtures, and soon to be River City Brewing Company, while allowing the old Greyhound station to be illegally replaced with a surface parking lot with no consequence.

They've failed on the convention center RFP. Failed on the Ford on Bay RFP. Failed on the LaVilla townhouse RFP. Spinelessly executed Curry's back-of-the-napkin plan for the Landing RFP.

One of the wealthiest men on the planet chanced upon having a vested interest in downtown Jacksonville with his purchase of the Jags, and for TEN YEARS the DIA has been unable to break ground on anything at the Shipyards in conjunction with Khan.

They've failed on their promise to return the streets to two-way, they've been clowned by the MOSH, and they've yet to take any stand whatsoever on the U2C.

Surely there's something better they can be doing with their time?

[marcuscnelson]

I gave an 8 to the DT Jax logo with the buildings.  I was not supportive of the rest.  Why is this what we're spending our time and money on?

I mean, I think it's a fine idea to think about what Downtown should be as a brand. What people think of you matters. It's just that it should actually... mean something? Also maybe it's just me, but if nothing else all the neighborhood logos should include "JAX" somewhere in there, because from a social media era standpoint I don't know why "SoBa" or "NoCo" by itself would scream "oh, that's in Jacksonville" at all. I'd say if they're going to do a whole rebrand they should bring in an outside firm to think of something, and pair whatever they come up with with actual regulatory changes (zoning, planning, etc.) and money to make that vision reality. And figure out how what JTA wants to do is going to fit with that.

Presumably this is separate from actual other stuff the DIA is focusing on, but man would it be nice to see them putting some effort into stuff like getting the convention center out of the terminal, especially now that JTA is at least giving lip service and pennies on the dollar to the prospect of rail. Seeing as the Spandrel concept appears to have just collapsed, it'd be great to see them consider a more rational convention center concept in P3 with the Hyatt.

[Ken_FSU]

I'm no designer, but a couple of more organic suggestions.

Bay Street, from JRTC to TIAA Bank Field.



Liberty above Bay:



The Northbank:



Main, between Union and State:



The Sports Complex:



Laura at Forsyth:



Ford on Bay/Old Courthouse area:



Jacksonville Shipyards:

[marcuscnelson]

Now this is unique and iconic.

[jaxlongtimer]

Love it!  Great job, Ken FSU.  You should offer your services to DIA!

I did note on their survey that I could see endless memes around "No-co:"  Downtown and "No-Co-nstruction? "No-Co-mpleted projects?" No-Co-herent plan?" No-Co-nvention Center?"  "No-Co-nsolidation promises kept?"  "No-Co-ps?" "No-Co-mmon sense?"  "No-Co-mplete streets?"  For the uninitiated, they might think it means "No-Co-mpanies."  You get the idea.  Feel free to add your own.

I could see SoBa evolving into "So-Bad" one day.  LOL.

[jaxoNOLE]

NoCo and SoBa -- pretentious, generic, unrelatable nonsense dreaming of L.A. notoriety.

I liked the red theme for LaVilla and the serif-font, watery look for the Southbank. The yellow-on-black for the North Core, name notwithstanding, was cool but I'd prefer blue or green over yellow for the font.

I noticed the vision statements in the survey were less polished (in some cases, with poor grammar and typos) than the statements on the DIA website presented after the survey. I would have rated the vision statements substantially higher if they matched the DIA website's quality.

Edit: You know what is a pretty awesome logo for downtown? The Jaxson's logo.

[jcjohnpaint]

Perfect! All I can say is...

[fieldafm]

This is an actual logo I had made for a neighborhood like Brooklyn, for a project that never came to fruition.







I'd gladly give the DIA this.... instead of the God-awful, generic and vomit-inducing garbage their politically-connected engineering firm came up with in order to make a quick buck.


I have others for LaVilla as well.

[Captain Zissou]

I noticed the vision statements in the survey were less polished (in some cases, with poor grammar and typos) than the statements on the DIA website presented after the survey. I would have rated the vision statements substantially higher if they matched the DIA website's quality.

They weren't vision statements at all.  Vision statements are supposed to be forward looking and aspirational.  These were just the current situation of each neighborhood, but glossing over anything negative.  More has been destroyed than built in the north bank in the last 10 years, but we feel the best thing to move it forward is a re-branding campaign.  Maybe we can do some cool lawn art to show off the logo on the 100+ acres of vacant land scattered throughout NoCo-mpetency.

Semi-related note.  At the New Found Glory show I lucked into the VIP area where I happened to witness some things that really sickened me.  First, I was enjoying a burger when a group of people started running toward me making a bit of noise.  It was the head of DVI and some other city people clamoring to get to the gate as the mayor arrived.  They were all deliriously excited and some had brought their kids and spouses to show support too.  It was so bizarre to me that these people would rush to greet such a failed politician, but that's the culture he has developed.  Kiss the ring or feel the wrath.  Second, the mayor's lackeys were putting on a show of how not to act if you're a civil servant making $150k a year.  Chugging beers, chest bumping, being obnoxious.  This is the team that curry has selected and handsomely rewarded to keep this farce going.  Seeing these things greatly upset me, but also were very revealing about the state of current city government.