NoCo and SoBa?

[JBTripper]

I think if the city adopted policies that made these places desirable to live and work, then the people who lived and worked there would eventually adopt some endearing term for them.

[jaxoNOLE]

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.

Those are very nice, and far superior. Nicely done.

[Ken_FSU]

I think if the city adopted policies that made these places desirable to live and work, then the people who lived and worked there would eventually adopt some endearing term for them.

That's the difference between setting neighborhoods up for success and letting their identity evolve organically, versus having somebody's grandparent watch a few episodes of Sex and the City and then arbitrarily try to rebrand the entire downtown core.

Love that Brooklyn logo, Mike.

Feels much more authentic than what was presented in the survey.

[Tacachale]

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:

PLEASE tell me I can run these as an article.

[Steve]

This branding attempt is overall terrible. It seems like we're trying to manufacture authenticity.

[thelakelander]

^However, in the attempt to manufacture authenticity, it fails to capitalize on the authenticity that exists and promotes 1990s everyplace USA branding themes.

[Steve]

Why actually learn about our history when you can just Google logos and repurpose them? That's WAY easier to do to doing actual research.

[Downtown Osprey]

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.

Submit those to the DIA lol. The mock ups they presented were laughable. It looked like a Junior designer put those together. When I look at this logo you designed, it already 'feels' more like Jacksonville. The Brooklyn mock ups they presented honestly looked like something off a Brooklyn Nets T-Shirt.

That was my biggest critique, literally nothing about Jax's history is incorporated into any of these (aside from the one LaVilla one I saw).

[jaxlongtimer]

Field, your Brooklyn logos are far superior to DIA's.  It looks like DIA made their logos in Microsoft Word with Word Art  .  Hard to believe any legitimate graphic designer would admit to making those.

And, yes, the "vision" statements are not vision statements.  First, such statements are supposed to be concise and relatively short.  You don't list a whole bunch of aspirational details in them.  And, I say aspirational, as most everything they included does not come close to representing the current state of affairs.  I told them they were creating false expectations that would only lead to disappointment by anyone who fell for them (assuming anyone bothered to actually read them) thus undermining their credibility (as if they had any now).

[Ken_FSU]

PLEASE tell me I can run these as an article.

Have some more, Bill, courtesy my friend Ben_UF who doesn't have friendships to maintain 

The Laura Street riverfront:



Friendship Fountain:



Metro Park North:



The up-and-coming 10-block stretch between Catherine Street and Commodore Point:



Our prestigious urban higher-ed institution:



The place to be seen after big events:



I hate to be negative, it's not who I am, but intent is obviously just to point out how foolish a rebranding effort is when there's so many other pressing issues downtown.

Logic says all hands should be on deck figuring out why urban cores all around you are flourishing while your downtown continues to look like the combination of a nuclear test site and a Midwestern prarie.  When companies are fighting over themselves to relocate to other Florida cities but the cows are looking at your waterfront more lustfully than corporate executives and international investors, logos probably ain't the issue.

[itsfantastic1]

^ I'm truly disappointed in your lack of Comic Sans Ken_FSU, that would've been a gamechanger™

[jaxjags]

The  JAX CLOWN ACADAMY is just to damn funny. Cannot stop laughing!

[jaxlongtimer]

Ken, keep them coming!  Sometimes, humor and satire make the point when nothing else will.

We need a few "overlays" of pictures of the Skyway.  Surely, you and your buddy can come up with a few good zingers for the "savior of Downtown!"

[Ken_FSU]

Last thing I'll say on this rebranding thing is that it's so emblematic of how Jacksonville has operated for decades. So much time and so many resources exhausted on aspiration, and so little action, investment, or follow through resulting from it. We just hop from silver bullet to silver bullet, from steering committee to steering committee, from charette to charette, sending representatives on research trips from city to city, all ultimately resulting in nothing but conceptual ideas and endless naval-gazing before leadership changes and we start all over again.

First it's motorized skywalks. Then it's the Big Idea. Then it's working with Sleiman. Then it's the Shipyards. Then it's the Shipyards and Met Park. Then it's Lot J instead. Then it's back to Met Park and the Shipyards. Then it's Nodes. Then it's tearing down ramps. Then it's two way streets. Then it's a new convention center. Then it's let's not work with Sleiman let's tear down the Landing instead. Then it's Riverfront Parks Now. Then it's the Emerald Trail. Then it's clown cars. Then the mayor wants to throw $70 million back into the riverwalk between Berkman and Met Park again. Then it's rebranding. Then it's privatizing JEA, which falls through. Then it's giving Shad Khan a loan instead, which falls through. Then it's a gas tax. All the while economic cycles are coming and going.

What are we doing here? Where is this all getting us as a city?

It's the reason I don't want any City Council lifer, or even any established Jacksonville politician, leading this city post-Curry.

Same with the JTA.

Same with the DIA.

Hiring within clearly hasn't worked out.

We need more people in leadership with proven track records pushing other cities forward. Otherwise it's just going to be more musical aspirations for decades to come.

Hire a national firm to do an amazing master plan. Carve budget out of each year's CIP to execute on the master plan and maintain momentum. Put someone in charge of the DIA who has the connections and experience necessary to attract outside end-users and investors. Put someone in charge of JTA with a long range plan that stimulates TOD.

I just can't grasp why it's so hard for this city to simply follow the model that's worked everywhere else for hundreds of years instead of sending out wrecking balls, clown cars, and logos with no rhyme or reason.

[heights unknown]

Don't they have anything else better to do? Like fix downtown and the urban core? Well DIA? Answer us!!!