For more than 50 years, Harford County Public Schools has been represented by a straightforward logo with a homespun look. Now, signs are pointing to a logo change and public input is being sought on two new designs, one of which will be recommended to the Harford County Board of Education in August by Superintendent of Schools Robert M. Tomback.
The logo change was sparked five years ago by a $17,200 communications audit that was commissioned by the school board with the goal of improving overall communications with stakeholders, both within and outside of HCPS. Conducted by the National School Public Relations Association, the audit resulted in a total of 13 recommendations, which have been in various stages of implementation since 2008. The logo change was part of Recommendation 13: “Develop a comprehensive branding/marketing strategy” for Harford County Public Schools.
In response to questions about the logo change from The Dagger, the re-branding initiative was described by Teri Kranefeld, HCPS manager of communications, as follows:
“The re-branding initiative is not just about the actual logo or mark, it is about the brand promise and identity of the school system and the ability to invest in a comprehensive strategic marketing initiative in order to increase student performance by recruiting and retaining high quality staff, fostering parental involvement, and developing business partnerships; increase communication efficiency and effectiveness at both the school and school system levels; and increase pride and support for Harford County Public Schools.”
The current logo – a drawing of a ruler laying crosswise on an open book, encircled with the words “Harford County Public Schools” – drew negative feedback from stakeholders, the auditors said. Focus groups called the logo, “outdated”, “dusty”, and worse: some said the circle and crossbar/ruler sent a perverse “no books” message from the schools.
The auditors strongly recommended that a logo change be considered but warned against holding a contest or leaving the task to amateurs:
“The logo is an important component of the identity you are trying to build in the community and should be the result of a thoughtful process and skilled graphic artist.”
Accordingly, A. Bright Idea, a Bel Air advertising, public relations, and design firm was hired by HCPS at a cost of $16,000, which Kranefeld said was for brand research, brand strategy development, and style guide development, in addition to the logo concepts.
After more research, feedback was collected from additional stakeholder focus groups, which Kranefeld said were conducted by the firm at no extra cost, and two new logos were developed. Now, Superintendent Robert Tomback is asking for the public to weigh in on which design best depicts Harford County Public Schools.
Kranefeld said that Superintendent Tomback will review the public input and present his recommendation for approval by the school board at the next board business meeting, set for August 13, 2012.
Following board approval, Kranefeld said that materials with the new logo will be rotated in as the old supply is depleted, “in order to maintain a budget neutral roll-out.”
Below are the two new logo designs offered for public input. As always, comments are welcome on The Dagger, but please go to www.hcps.org to cast your vote.
Below is the original recommendation regarding the logo that was made in the January 2008 communications audit report by the National School Public Relations Association:
“Consider updating the district logo. As HCPS begins to focus on its key messages and revitalize its image, we recommend serious consideration be given to updating the district logo. Overwhelmingly, the focus group participants agreed that although it is valued for its historic quality, the logo does not reflect education in the 21st Century. Many focus group participants noted that the ruler and book circular design implies a “no books” message.
A new graphic look can often serve to announce a new era, garner attention and reenergize communications. A positioning statement or slogan should be incorporated into the logo design as well. Both the design and the positioning statement should clearly indicate that HCPS is about children and education. In our review of materials, we found several different positioning statements in use. “Every Kid Counts” along with a graphic of children is used on some materials, but not on others. The HCPS logo includes the phrase “Serving Youth.” The HCPS vision includes the phrase “Educating Everyone Takes Everyone.” A carefully developed positioning statement would clarify one, overarching message that represents HCPS, both for the present and future.
It is helpful to implement standards for incorporating the district logo and positioning statement on all publications (district and school). This can help to ensure that nothing is produced without consistent branding messages and graphic elements in place. For example, not all school newsletters clearly branded the school as belonging to HCPS. All newsletter banners should display the district logo and clearly indicate the school’s district relationship.
Some districts create a stylebook that provides schools and departments with information and guidelines on the use of the logo and positioning statement, graphic design tips, and writing style and punctuation. It is also important to extend this graphic brand image to the web site, again making sure that there are common elements that help the reader make the connection to HCPS.
Note: We strongly recommend against holding a contest to design a new logo. The logo is an important component of the identity you are trying to build in the community and should be the result of a thoughtful process and skilled graphic artist.”
Ok, so I get that the book with the random quadrilaterals is supposed to be more “high-tech”…we have books but also computers! However, can somebody tell me what the ^@%% the leaves are for? And why are they on the “C” of HCPS? I guess it could be a metaphor for growth, as the leaves are increasing in size as they go. Still, why does growth go with the County word, and not with Harford, Public, or Schools?
Regardless of what the National School Public Relations Association says about logo contests being inadvisable, HCPS students could have created much cooler logos for MUCH less than 16 grand.
Notwithstanding the fact that this is a complete waste of time and money you are absolutely correct in that we have talented students in our school system that could have come up with better designs.
I agree. Neither logo is appealing or meaningful to me. Get the kids to submit some ideas. There are many talented kids in HCPS. Surely one of them could do better than either of these. Leaves? Representing our vanishing country/rural setting?
I doubt the leaves symbolize growth, they are more likely to represent the liberal “green” agenda. It is ironic at an economic time like this, our local government is choosing to spending green ($) when its fiscally tight to push a green project that is chalk full of political bias…vote them all out in November!
It is truly sad that the county will spend $16,000 to see if a logo for HCPS is outdated. There are so many more important issues that need to be addressed, new text books, more teachers, etc. and I could go on and on. Mr. Tomback has only been in Harford County for 2 years so why does he see a need to spend money on something that has been working for years. If you want to change it, let the students do it in a contest which gives them ownership in their school.. How does an outside public relations firm know what is correct for HCPS?
Mr. Tomback please stop trying to fix things that ain’t broke and concentrate on improving teacher morales and treat them like colleagues instead of your servants.
Dear HCPS… it’s going to take much more than re-branding to correct the issues within the school system.
As a former professional graphic artist, my considered opinion is that both of these logos (all four of these logos?) are crap. Think of the pencils and paper that could have been bought for that $16K.
How is this improving the education of our children?
All 4 of the designs are uncreative. They look as if they came from clip-art. I am disgusted that they spent $16,000 on this project. What a waste of money!!!!!
I think it would have been neat if they had held a contest in the high schools and had an art student come up with a new logo. Then they could have used the money to award a scholarship.
These are professional designs worth $16,000.00? I agree with a previous poster that students in our county could have come up with better ideas. And quite honestly, I don’t understand the geometric design–it looks like a cardboard box and would be better suited for Best Buy.
Speaking of better suited, didn’t our county also spend several thousand dollars a few years back to, “research,” the idea of school uniforms, then ended up scrapping that whole idea when the money ran out?
Too many cooks in the kitchen if you ask me, making lots of waste.
Tombeck blew this one big time. He should reimburse the funds wasted from his own bloated salary and have a redo, using the immense talents of the students of HCPS. I saw the Bel Air 4th of July pamphlet and the pictures drawn by the students are amazing. Students–send your artwork to the Bd of Ed and force them to use one of yours!!!!
16 thousand dollars for a logo evaluation and redesign…
These are absolutely awful. At first glance I didn’t even realize the one logo was a book! Since I’m a fan of M.C. Escher my brain did the optical illusion trick of thinking it was a shipping carton. Yuck. And I agree-what do the leaves have to do with our schools? As for the comment that it shouldn’t be a contest or designed by an amateur…that doesn’t mean a high school art student couldn’t design something that could be professionally designed. After all-even google has a student designed logo day once a year.
By the way…. Even I could have designed better one…and for only $8000! 😀
Sorry…in a hurry..what I meant was
“that doesn’t mean a high school art student couldn’t design something that could be then be professionally cleaned up.”
Well, folks, if you are getting all in a twist over $16K for a new logo I have worse news for you. You have no idea what re-branding actually costs. A new logo means web site changes, new business cards (yep, HCPS has business cards), new letterhead, new envelopes, and new signage everywhere, and that’s just for starters. $16K is chump change compared to what the total will be. If you want to really know what re-branding costs then require HCPS to create a new budget account to track the charges and also require them to actually charge any related expenses to the new account. If, HCPS wants to ‘bury’ the charges to avoid scrutiny then they will tell everyone to charge everything to existing budget line items. Been there, done that.
You are exactly right, Alex. In my working years, I’ve seen logo changes and the horrible waste of throwing out everything with the old logo, and the high costs of replacing all of it. $16,000 plus who knows how much. Think what that could buy in the way of books and supplies for the school.
Alex,
You must be in the central office with all the info. you have! Please enlighten us as to what other plans Mr. Tomback has for HCPS. Great to have an insider! Keep up the good work!
Actually, HCPSMOM, I am not at all in the central office. It is just that, sadly, I have seen the pattern over and over when there is a change in leadership in an organization, and public schools are no different.
New leader comes, reorganize, create new positions and eliminate others, hire friends form former position, change methodology of evaluation, re-brand, talk about changing image, introduce new terminology, ask for more funding. Same old, same old.
This actually reminds me of the end of “Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” where all the management consultants were sitting around a Big Square Rock with a Hole in it – apparently discussing the invention of the “Wheel”. One of the characters observes that the clueless committee has got the wheel “All wrong”. Then a committee member asks him: “If you’re so smart what color would you make it?”
Porter, You’re inner geek is showing.
Priceless. And spot on right.
And there needed to be a third choice in addition to Concept 1 and Concept 2.
None of the above.
My gut feeling is that true to form on everything else he does, Dr. Tomback has actually already decided what he wants and is just going through the formality of allowing citizens to think they have input.
Kind of like the way Harford County Government decides that we want a WalMart on 924/Plumtree. (I know the two are not related issues, but that’s the first thought that struck me when I read HCPSTeacher10’s comments.)
Let’s ask our “leader” what is the expected outcome/learning from this change in logo? He expects his supervisors to ask that of teachers for each and every minute of instruction. SO I ask the same of him? What is the expected message of this logo in order to make a good choice, if any? He just keeps missing the boat and is not connected to this county in any way.
Beautiful! If they had to meet their own silly standards maybe things would really change.
I did not realize that HCPS is considered a brand. When a company needs brand reconigtion that usually implies that they have competition and a need to seperate themselves from the competition. Who is HPCS’s competition? Also the BOE should be looked for authorizing this expenditure. I have to agree with the above post what a waste of tax payers dollars.
This is what a professional company came up with? The designs are not creative and the colors are dreadful. Wow what a waste of money.
YEp waste waste waste! Let us not get a step but a pretty logo? Let the IA’s, IH’s and Library Asst go without but darn it-we are going to have a btter logo. Welcome to reality people! This is just the start of the waste and lack of priority going on at HCPS.
If only we all, or even most of us, actually thought that it WAS a better logo.
Well, the no-books logo would be appropriate if the iPad lovers were to get their way and issue one to every student.
Why didn’t they just remove the ruler? (Pun intended.)
PLEASE tell me Tombeck’s contract is not going to be renewed.
BEST. PUN. EVER! We paid off Grotsky to leave, let’s toss out this idiot a tad early, too.
I would suggest that we not hire superintendents that we want to leave early and then have to pay them off to do it. The BOE is the root problem and the poor hires are the result.
Don’t blame everyone on the BOE. Only two current members of the BOE (Wheeler and Krchnavy) were responsible for bringing Tomback to HarCo. For those that pay attention to the BOE there is some question as to whether support for the super is universal. Voters need to pay attention and cast their votes accordingly at the next election.
Well, then its time for the newer board members to get a backbone. Their honeymoon is over.
@PTB Some BOE members have demonstrated a willingness to challenge Tomback and his administration. Unfortunately there do not seem to be enough of them. Everyone need to pat attention and vote accordingly at the next election.
Per-pupil library book spending was decreased to approximately 1/3 of previous years’ allocation. I guess this new design is how kids will still get a book. . .
These logos are AWFUL! I looked for the “none of the above” option, too. Do over!
Y’know, there wasn’t anything wrong with “Towson State University”; I suppose they were the model for wasteful “rebranding,” as Salisbury State followed suit; and now HCPS wants to “rebrand.” “Rebranding” makes about as much sense as “reimagining” old TV shows (Sci-Fi’s — excuse me; Syfy’s — horrible remake of “Battlestar Galactica” comes immediately to mind). What does HCPS do? It tries to educate children. If the logo doesn’t convey that — and these examples fail completely — then the logo doesn’t work. And Alex R is absolutely right in stating that there are costs down the road that are unfactored expenses when you change a corporate logo. How many other teachers will lose their jobs to pay for this idiocy!?
What a monumental waste of f-cking money. how many art departments do they have with how many art students. They should have had a contest and offered a cash prize for the winner. Both logos look like turds. The school system is not a business, It does not need a branding a marketing strategy. STOP BLOWING OUR TAX DOLLARS ON STUPID SHIT PLEASE
“should be the result of a thoughtful process and skilled graphic artist.” <– well they didn't follow that recommendation.
If they wanted a new logo to reflect HCPS today, all they needed to do was change the old one from saying “Serving Youth” to saying “Serve Yourself”.
That would have pretty much summed up the Tomback regime.
So what is next, is the county going to change its coat of arms because it looks old? This is why the CE and County Council balk at giving the HCPS all of the money they ask for each year. It should go to teachers who are the most important resource in the HCPS, but the budget does not permit the County Government, even though they are the major funders, to determine where the money goes. This has been the battle for years. It needs to be changed, since the HCPS and BOE are able to allocate their money appropriately.
Sorry, My post should read since the HCPS and BOE are UNable to allocate their money appropriately.
In the grand scheme of things this is not a great deal of money. However, this was clearly the wrong time to push something of this nature forward. Given all of the cuts in both personnel, instructionally-related equipment, etc I am appalled.
Unreal,
You will be even more appalled if you ever find out how much it will actually cost to implement. Good luck with that.
My problem with this is not the $16,000. It is two things. First, the ultimate cost to implement which no one wants to consider and HCPS will not address publicly unless forced to do it. Second, and even more importantly, it is indicative of mindsets and attitudes at the leadership level at HCPS.
Can we please, please get some people at the very top level in HCPS that can manage an organization? An organization that teaches students but also transports students, and feeds students, and builds buildings, and maintains building and property, and performs legal functions, and manages financial operations, and implements technology, and on and on.
Here is the inconvenient truth. Managers can’t educate students. But, equally, educators have no training or ability to manage organizations. Do you think the CEO of Exxon Mobile was their best oil well driller or pipeline builder or tanker captain?
I’m reminded of what happened a generation or so ago when NBC wanted to dump its multicolored peacock for a red and a blue trapezoid, placed in close enough proximity to form a stylized geometric N. They got what amounted to a cease-and-desist order from Nebraska Public Television, who had been using the same shapes, just in red only, as their logo for many years before NBC thought it came up with the idea. NBC lawyered up and invaded the Nebraska state house, attempting to browbeat the governor into ordering NPT to back off. After all, the suits protested, they’d already spent millions of dollars publicizing the new logo, putting it on all their cameras and other hardware, changing all their stationery, etc., etc.; and it would cost them too much money to pull back now. The governor pointedly informed the suits of a phone call he had received some years earlier from a large East Coast-based multinational corporation. The suits from said firm told him that they were calling because, while their computers told them that the name they wanted to apply to their company meant nothing in any language, they searched further and found this little mom-and-pop office supply store whose name sounded a lot like their expensive name that meant nothing in any language even though the spelling was different. Before they went ahead with using their new name, they wanted to know if this would cause his little mom-and-pop any trouble. He said no, I don’t think anyone will confuse your multinational oil company with my little mom-and-pop office supply store; but thank you for checking it out and asking if I’d have a problem with it. The governor then told NBC that they hadn’t done their homework, and he wasn’t going to give them what they wanted. The governor’s name, by the way, was James Exon; I doubt I have to identify the oil company. This rebranding, if HCPS insists on going through with it, will cost more than the $16,000 they paid for their pathetic designs — a lot more.
New Coke anyone?
Observer, thanks for an interesting take on this matter.
When we were kids, we laughed at the “cidiots” that moved to Harford County from the crime-infested lifestyle that they had grown up with in Baltimore. When there were a few of them, no problem. They were manageable. Now, they comprise the majority of Harford County. So, when you have a county full of “citiots”, expect what you get. People running the school system who have no ideas of real Harford Countians are or were. Just count how many people who say, Blair Road, that should tell you something!
Why do we have to change. The icon to save a document is still a disc. Kids don’t even know what that is but we still use it. These new ideas are terrible.
HCPS is offering an opportunity for the public to vote on a new logo. However they do not offer the opportunity for anyone to vote to keep the old logo. I didn’t know the change was being considered until after thousands of dollars had been spent. Where can I go to vote to keep the logo we have and to get rid of the fool who chose to spend money on such a waste of valuable school funds?
Where can you go? You can go to the BOE meeting and you can go to the ballot box. That is all they will ever understand.
I agree with the earlier posts on this complete waste of OUR money! How about they simply have a graphic of their hands open, our wallets open, and brains being washed away down a drain and heading to open water in the Chesapeake Bay!! Classic case of poor stewardship by unaccountable, overpaid dopes running the show. So how many other “$16,000s” are there out there? Then throw in the salaries – like I a said many times before, we have far too much bureaucracy and too little focus on teaching – that’s why teachers don’t bring home the bacon.
Instead of a new logo, how about a new superintendent
This is a much better way to budget money then paying teachers more.
First, I’m impressed and thankful teachers are not getting blamed for this stupidity.
Second, my next stop is to see what BCPS’s logo looks like, and see if it is eerily similar… that seems to be Bobby’s pattern.
Third, whoever called for a new superintendent is my hero.
Fourth, whoever thinks the BOE needs to be replaced, also my hero.
Fifth, when the budget was getting slashed to pieces to force the BOE agree to their agreement – how did this idiocy survive the chopping block? Oh yeah, cut books, teachers and programs… glad to see that students really do come first in the eyes of the central office and BOE!
To the citizens of Harford County, I hope you are paying attention to this. The people running this county and school system are acting like second rate, third dictators. Vote them out and fire Bobby.
I’m embarrassed for Ms. Kranefeld. Its bad enough that she had to distribute that pathetic gibberish of an official statement; but for them to send her before the public with an outright LIE about the actual cost is disgraceful. Tomback and Lawrence are disconnected, mediocre bureaucrats. Tomback was a mid-level, going-nowhere hack at BCPS, and Lawrence couldn’t even keep his job there. Thank you Wolkow, Rich, Wheeler, Hess and Krchnavy; great job with the superintendent search.
I don’t where you have been but this whole thing started started long before Tomback came and was driven by the Board not the Superintendent.
Maybe some of you could do a little research and really find out what you are talking about instead throwing out the same old rhetoric.
Concerned Citizen… fair enough, you are correct. Dr. Bobby did not initiate this idea, but he also did not stop it. I find that unbelievable considering positions were cut to abide by a contract agreement, but this survived. This should have hit the floor once the BOE decided to violate a contract agreement…
Kranefeld is getting paid big bucks for making those embarrassing statements so I don’t feel one bit sorry for her.
Agreed with AnotherHCPSTeacher…..just cannot believe this expenditure did not get cut. They can say that the cuts made were done to impact the classroom least, but if you look at all the details, you will see that that is just not true. The classrooms and programs are being impacted.
THIS is what $16 THOUSAND DOLLARS BOUGHT? This is an outrage! We can’t give employees pay increases and lose the good ones to other counties for much greater reasons than a stupid logo! What a complete waste of money, time, and manpower. And for the record those leaves are RIDICULOUS!
How about the new carroll county schools logo….design inspired by a student…
LOL. Ms Hoopes, First Grade 1960 Forest Hill, That’s when children were getting an education. Now, socially engineered socialist havens. Even most of the people teaching are “useful idiots.”
Let me place my input into perspective:
I have taught art in Howard County for 20 years and I have lived in Harford County for almost all of my 43 years. I have extensive educational experience and graphic design experience. All of these logos are hideous and lack conception and relevance.
I forgot to add. . . I would design something for free and save some taxpayer money.
So the BOE and all have money for this?! Meanwhile, at my school, we just got our schedules and all have larger than normal classes to accommodate the new dept chair positions that were put in place even though there wasn’t funding. So not only did every school have to ‘lose’ a teaching position, those dept chairs only teach 2 out of 4 periods a day and the rest of us get to ‘absorb’ those extra bodies that would have been in the 3rd class period the dept chairs normally taught. Right now my total class load is over 200 students.
Unfortunately my subject area does not rely on ScanTron tests for grading-I have to handle and grade every single assignment individually and personally assess each one Don’t think for a moment I’m not going to adjust the amount of graded work this year to keep my sanity. There’s going to be a lot more non-graded assignments or ones that are checked for completion over accuracy because neither am I going to stay after school or take work home to grade anymore. No longer am I going to sit with my family in the living room alone on the loveseat because no one can sit next to me without crushing the pile of papers I’m trying to grade while I spend some ‘quality’ time with my family. Since watching the negative public opinion about the job I chose to do last spring, and the manipulative political games, it’s not so much work to rule for me as finally realizing it was time for a separation of work and family.
Ha! I could easily re-design the logo…a classroom scene where the teacher and students all have frownie faces drawn in or maybe a ship with ‘HCPS’ on the stern rowing in circles and getting nowhere. I’m at a loss to understand what has happened to the school system I was so happy with when I first was hired many years ago.
Why is this issue not being addressed?! This is something that is going to directly impact students in the classroom! I understand that everyone is wound up about the ridiculous re-branding of HCPS, but that’s a done deal now.
I went into school yesterday and found out that I am also going to have 35+ students in my classes that for years have had 26-29. It will be interesting since my room is small and already has 36 desks crammed in with no walking space. Wonder where they plan on putting the 2-3 additional seats.. My school’s student population hasn’t changed, we’re just ‘assimilating’ the lost position and the extra planning period of the department chairs. At the moment my class load is over 220 students! I am now in the process of looking through my assignments and cutting back on some of the papers I usually have students write so I will be able to manage my grading without losing my mind. I usually pride myself on returning graded work to students within 3 days of the due date. I am not going to kill myself grading anymore and I’m not taking a blessed thing home with me this year. This is totally ridiculous.
Memo to HCPS, please focus on educating my child and leave the re-branding to corporations. Along with many in this thread, you could have asked our students to design a logo, and it would have looked a heck of a lot better than the one they chose.
I guess you saw the BOE meeting last night where they chose the one leaf design even though it was practically agreed upon that no one thought it had anything to do with the school system or students. HUH? Well the money was already spent so they had to go with it and even though it was pointed out that their “online polling” could have been done by the same person and that it didn’t seem quite appopriate to vote in the summer, they did it anyway. Bob Frisch had to bring up most of the points as to why it was problematic and a few others agreed but were not as outspoken as he was. So thankful one person on that Board is looking out for the public interest and finances and understands how this whole fiasco is being perceived.
So now school system has a bunch of leaves for 50 years and a 3 paragraph description as to why this is the logo and what it stands for, and people really wonder why we have the problems we do with the current leadership…
I agree with many others commenting here that a new school logo was an issue that should not have even been up for discussion. It is a shame there are not more educators on the school board. I think they have a better understanding of what are the really important issues facing our school system. Not superficial issues like a school system logo. The public needs to pay attention and remember the positions taken by current school board members when the next election comes around.
Unfortunately what they don’t realize is that parents seeing the behavior of the “professionals” durning the contract disputes last year, and the various way the dept of ed wastes money on superficial, frivolous things has more of a branding effect on the school system than any silly drawing…I don’t begrudge the change, I think it’s sad that that is where the priority for those funds were determined to be as we hear teachers talking about reducing class work to deal with overcrowding, and schools discussing reducing assemblies, programs, fieldtrips to deal with reduced funding.