 05-20-2009, 10:54 AM
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K. Kulig
Joined on 05-20-2009
Posts 1
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Embarassing New Slogan/Logo... No Imagination Or Creativity
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To Whom It May Concern,
As a life-long resident of the State of Wisconsin, it is with great displeasure and embarrassment to read about and see the state’s new tourism slogan and logo… “Wisconsin, Live Like You Mean It.” Once again, Wisconsin shows its neighbors and the nation what a complete lack of imagination, creativity and sense of pride we have in our own state.
I continue to read countless news articles about the impression our new tourism slogan gives in state and national news stories (including the New York Times) as well as on various blogs and message boards across the internet. It’s no surprise that 95% of the responses I’ve read are negative. Neither the slogan nor the logo capitalizes on any of the natural wonders we have that would attract visitors to Wisconsin.
It’s bad enough that the firm that came up with this slogan and logo charged state taxpayers $50,000 for it. Then we find out that among other trademarked usage, the slogan was used in past Bacardi rum ads. What makes it even worse is that our state bureaucrats actually accepted this and plan to trademark and run with it. So much for “Originality Rules” in Wisconsin. This applies to what you've done with this slogan despite the lame explanations given elsewhere on this board.
Let’s really talk tourism here. What one thing does Wisconsin have in abundance that attracts people? The answer is water. We’re blessed to be bordered by two of the Great Lakes and the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. Inland, we have thousands of lakes, streams and rivers. In total, we have thousands of miles of shoreline. It doesn’t take a marketing degree to know this. Yet, the state continually fails to promote this at the level it deserves. And in keeping with that tradition, the new tourism slogan and logo continues to ignore it.
This same apathy and lack of imagination carries into our state license plate as well. Our current (1985 vintage?) general issue license plate design was chosen out of designs submitted by Wisconsin residents, which was a great way of selecting one. However, our current license plate design is very dated. And, we really are no longer “America’s Dairyland” after having been surpassed by California in that area several years ago.
Instead of hiring a marketing firm and wasting taxpayer money on the new tourism slogan that we’re now stuck with, why didn’t the state simply run a public, state-wide contest to come up with a new one, along with a new general issue license plate design that actually utilizes the new slogan to promote Wisconsin tourism?
It’s about time the state considers a new, more modern looking license plate design to better promote our state image and to bring us up to the same level of technology and graphics other states have been using for several years on their plates. Just about any design is now possible with today’s laser printing capabilities and the new flat-plate graphics.
As an example, I’ve attached a link to an image that I created to show how easily this could’ve been accomplished had the state presented this challenge to its residents. Please keep in mind that I have no background in marketing or graphic arts. All I have is an imagination, an appreciation of where I live, and an outdated version of Photoshop software.
The background image that I chose for my plate design is an aerial view of our Mississippi River backwaters. I modified it so that just about every state resident can recognize similarities to the areas in which they live. The background colors and vignette effect that I used gives it the appearance of a late afternoon summer day.
The view is looking upriver to the west, so I added some late afternoon sun. This makes the stylized “Wisconsin” stand out more. Since several states use blue as a predominant color on their plates, the orange of the sun should immediately make this plate distinguishable at a distance from all others.
The license plate number is in black and would provide enough contrast for law enforcement to clearly read it (unlike our Sesquicentennial plate). The font is slightly bolder than normal as well for the same reason.
I chose the slogan “EXPLORE DIFFERENT SHORES” to promote one of this state’s greatest tourism assets, as I’ve already described above. After I came up with this slogan I searched the internet for possible usage. To my knowledge, no one appears to be using this as a trademarked slogan. However, a proper legal search would still have to be made.
This is just one of countless examples of how a more meaningful state tourism slogan could be promoted through a more modern looking license plate design. And… it came free of charge from an ordinary state resident, not a marketing firm.
The full size image can be found here:
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/5285/wiplate4x4.jpg
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