Pullman logo getting a new look

The city of Pullman is rebranding, with new logos for the city and its facilities underway to replace current designs.

Tripp Muldrow, with Arnett Muldrow and Associates, presented a draft of the City of Pullman Unifying Place Brand package to the Pullman City Council on Tuesday. The goal of these new designs is to create consistency between government agencies, as well as hide symbolic meaning within Pullman’s logos. The council did not take any action on implementing the logos, and Arnett Muldrow and Associates will continue to finalize the concepts.

Pullman’s seal — characterized by the Washington State University clock tower, wheat and four hills — is getting a makeover. Muldrow said he wanted to keep some design elements similar to the current logo, and first looked at colors. He noticed green is present in every government agency’s logo, as well as yellows, blues and red. Muldrow also looked at WSU’s branding, specifically its bold crimson color.

Muldrow put together a new color pallet for the city, keeping many existing colors including blues, greens, yellows, oranges and crimson red. The blues represent the Pullman School District’s school colors, the greens hint at many trails and nature in Pullman, the yellows and oranges represent the wheat and agriculture on the Palouse, and the red is a nod to WSU’s role in the community.

The new logo Muldrow presented has many Easter eggs hidden within the seal. Pullman began as a railroad town, with sun rays in the new logo symbolizing a train’s spokes. Four hills can be seen in the logo, with each color representing different plants grown on the Palouse. The forked river pictured represents the convergence of South Fork of the Palouse River and Paradise Creek.

Muldrow and his team decided to keep “Higher Tech, Higher Education, Highest Quality of Life” within the city’s design. Councilor Nathan Weller liked this idea as the phrase has been a part of Pullman’s history and past branding.

“A couple of things I want to point out that I think were really well done and exceptional in terms of expressing what makes us different is our four hills,” said Councilor Megan Guido. “I was very excited we were recognizing that and branding, if you will, of each of the four hills and their distinctive marks.”

Weller said he thought the seal looked like a merit badge, and didn’t like how the “iconic” WSU clock tower would be removed. He added the sun rays or wheel in the foreground looks like a slice of an orange.

Councilor Pat Wright applauded the design team for their work.

“(In) 18 hours, you and your partner came up with the core of this concept,” Wright said. “Which is absolutely astounding and certainly reflects your expertise and your familiarity with your subject matter and I think it’s absolutely amazing.”

To create consistency within city government logo designs, Muldrow looked to rebrand departments, districts and banners in Pullman. He said he wanted to be conscientious of past work and give agencies the option to choose designs that would represent them well.

A part of this was the Neill Public Library’s logo — Muldrow chose to only change its colors and fonts.

“Thank you so much about talking about individual entities such as the library,” Guido said. “I’m on the board and there was concern that the logo would be changed, and the board and the director were very happy that it looks similar to the work that’s already been done.”

As well as presenting design concepts for logos, Muldrow and his team will create a new mission statement.

Muldrow did not provide a set date when these logos will be finalized. Once they are ready, the council will accept the designs for future use.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce.