The City of Quebec is beginning a vast overhaul of its visual identity in order to refresh its image and stay up to date with social media. But there will be no alteration of the famous little boat on the city's logo.

"In no case will the logo be modified or altered," confirms representative David O'Brien. "The city has recently contacted four design firms to help revise its visual identity. But the boat is a symbol of the city, and therefore it is clear that it is here to stay." But everything that surrounds the logo is apt to change, he says.

"This is truly a complete makeover. The graphic design elements of the city's banners and stationery will change," enumerates Mr. O'Brien. This will include the look of institutional advertisements, press releases, and brochures. "It's like any large organization that seeks to refine its identity in order to keep up with the style of the times," O'Brien continues.

Four enterprises were invited to submit a tender for the project: Bleu Outremer, Côté Fleuve, LG2, and LXB Communication Marketing. The city has not yet unveiled which of the four has been chosen to take on the task, nor have they released the value of the contract. These sorts of offers on invitation generally tend to be contracts of $100,000 and less.

Social Media

The visual signature must take into account all that which makes up the "essence" of Quebec: "Innovation, a spirit of international openness, and the character of the city – all of the elements that we publicly promote," explains Mr. O'Brien.

They still have not spoken about creating a slogan, but more so a certain "attitude" that will come from the city's refreshed image. "In the world of communications, a visual identity is not only limited to graphic elements; it's also the tone, the editorial style. All of this influences the visual identity."

The last update of the City of Quebec's visual identity was over ten years ago, and the guide that describes how it should be used has not been updated since 2005. Currently, the official color of the city is Pantone 661 and its font is Helvetica Neue.

Updates were also made necessary due to the way communications have evolved in the past few years. "Ten years ago, the image worked quite well. But today, communications have greatly evolved. Back then, mobile internet didn't exist. Today, with all of the different types of social media, we need an image that is going to be quite flexible [for use on different platforms]," concludes Mr. O'Brien.

Has your city had to change its image in order to keep up with changing technology? If so, how? Share your city's stories in the comments below.

Original article, originally published in French, here.

Credits: Images and data linked to sources.