When Greg Jeffries sat down to design a logo representative of the city of Starkville, he wanted to create something that captured the community”s culture and character.
So Jeffries included in his design some of the most recognizable structures in Starkville, from the Oktibbeha County Courthouse and Mississippi State University”s Humphrey Coliseum to the steeple of a local church and the twin towers at the Mississippi State”s Industrial Education Building. Another of his designs incorporated the E.E. Cooley Building on Russell Street — the planned site of the CottonMill Crossing shopping center.
Fortunately for Jeffries, 23, his logos captured not only the most recognizable buildings in the city, but also the hearts of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and the more than 200 people who voted in the GSDP”s logo/slogan competition over the past six weeks.
Jeffries” two designs were chosen by voters and the Partnership as the winning logos in the GSDP competition.
But the design process isn”t finished yet. The Partnership and voters also selected a winning slogan, “Starkville: Where Progress Meets Tradition.” Kristen Ley and Catherine Yerger, of Cultigraphic Design Group, came up with the slogan.
Jeffries now will work to combine the winning slogan and his two winning logos into one final design.
“This is a logo the entire community will be able to use,” said GSDP Vice President for Tourism and Development Jennifer Glaze, noting it isn”t necessarily designed for official city use, but that is a possibility. “We really wanted this logo to tell a bit about Starkville.”
Mayor Parker Wiseman was on hand as the winning logos and slogan were unveiled Wednesday and was all smiles.
“The slogan is everything we are and everything we want to be as a community,” Wiseman said.
Glaze estimated it will be a few months before the combined logo/slogan is unveiled.
The Partnership received 26 entries in the competition, Glaze said, and 212 people voted. The public”s votes accounted for 20 percent of the final score for each entry, Glaze said. The remaining 80 percent came from the Partnership, who graded each entry on everything from creativity, “readability” and simplicity to how well each would look in different sizes and uses.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
