Resort muni to change its "identity" Current logo design conceived locally By Paul Andrew It has been 25 fast and eventful years since the Resort Municipality of Whistler awarded a local artist the honour of designing the town’s logo; it’s a design that has endured through numerous trends and physical changes to the resort. But with Whistler-Blackcomb changing its logo, and the Whistler Resort Association not only changing its logo but also its name — to Tourism Whistler — the RMOW says the year 2000 is a perfect time to change its logo. So change it will, but it’s much more than a new logo, says Diana Waltmann, information officer for the RMOW, and the person in charge of the request for proposals to the Visual Identity Program. "The design has held up well but it was designed in the ’70s and you know how popular the ’70s are right now," Waltmann said. "And it wasn’t designed by a professional team. The winner of the design was Norman Dunbar. He was given a season’s pass in 1975 for Whistler Mountain. Franz Wilhelmsen gave it to him," Waltmann said. "But if you’ll notice, this is much more than a logo change. We’re celebrating our 25 year anniversary in 2000 so we’re not really changing the logo, we’re up dating it." Waltmann said the RMOW, Tourism Whistler and Whistler-Blackcomb might one day all have the same symbol, and there have been recent discussions on a universal concept. For now, however, each will have its own identity. The request for proposals has numerous guidelines, but one of the highest priorities will be to design a logo that transfers easily from computer to paper, wooden signs, and the hundreds of mediums used by the resort municipality. Waltmann said that was a problem with the current design. "If you look at Whistler-Blackcomb’s new logo, it is simple and can be used on any surface and still looks good." But what of the identity of Whistler? As recently as 1991, less than 5,000 people called the valley their home. Now, 9,600 full-time residents are living in Whistler. Add to that the half-dozen No.1 rankings the resort has received and the four-season nature of the resort and it indeed shifts the emphasis away from just skiing and snowboarding. And let’s not forget about the 2010 Olympic bid. All of these things, in addition to a hundred tiny details, will have to be considered by the winning design team, Waltmann said. "We don’t have a budget for this, we’ve asked the teams, or the person who bids, to submit a budget. There’s no set limit so anything within reason will be considered. That’s up to the designers." An added design element will be the incorporation of the resort’s 25th anniversary to be displayed in the logo during the year 2000. But don’t expect the logo reflecting to begin appearing immediately after the successful design is chosen. "We’re not going to run out right away and change the whole town," Waltmann said. "As things run out, we’ll gradually implement the new logo. You know, when a truck needs painting or when the stationery finally runs out. That king of thing." The deadline for submissions is Dec.1. Entries should be mailed to Waltmann’s attention at the RMOW. Request for proposal packages, which have exhaustive details of requirements, are available at municipal hall. You can also inquire by phone at 932-5535, or Vancouver direct at 604-688-6018. Waltmann can be e-mailed at dianaw@idmail.com.
