Aubs and Mugg Inc. is taking Puslinch on a new path with respect to the township’s branding and logo project.
The company was the successful proponent through the request for proposals process and has been hired. Company officials attended council on June 6 to introduce themselves and the project.
Creative director Matthew Aubie introduced his team to members of council.
Aubie describes Aubs and Mugg as a multi-disciplinary design firm of creative thinkers with offices in Toronto and Ottawa.
“We are eager to move forward on this project,” said Aubie.
“We are a boutique design studio based out of Toronto and Ottawa.”
He explained some of company members are originally from Kitchener.
“We’re excited to do this work closer to home.”
He said the firm has worked for a broad range of clientele – from municipalities, to the tech sector in KW, Toronto and the U.S.
The company has also done work for larger companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Samsung and other brands.
In Puslinch, Aubie said “at the very basic level, we are looking to give Puslinch a consistent and engaging brand identity – something that someone can look at and immediately understand they are in Puslinch or directly connected to it.”
He added, “Beyond that, we really want to capture the spirit, the energy and atmosphere of the township so that whether one is a business owner or longtime resident, there is something to connect to and get a really strong sense of what the township is all about and where it is headed.”
Aubie spoke about the research component of project.
“Even though we are from nearby, we try to approach projects from a blank slate and try to get a sense of who the real stakeholders in the project are.”
Aubie said in this case, stakeholders include lifetime residents, young professionals who have left the township and come back to visit, to those who have never been to Puslinch but may do so within the next few years.
Generated personas are created to determine the ways in which the Puslinch brand impacts their lives.
Aubie said this will be generated through the use of individual surveys and information from Stats Canada.
“We want to create a landscape of who the people of Puslinch are.”
Once that is done, the firm can work on design, graphics, messaging – then get feedback.
“That will allow us to understand who responds to what.”
He stressed, “We do not try to find something you like – but how does this make someone feel – and is this what you want to represent Puslinch.”
That, he stressed, is the first phase.
Aubie said the next phase is powerful, as the team creates a series of design principles for everything moving forward.
Whether the sign for the township or a shirt worn during a community day event, Aubie said the brand should complement the design principles which capture the essence of the community.
“In the end, it will create an identifiable brand for the township,” Aubie said
“There is a lot of room to mold it into what it should be.
“We want to describe the township in its best light. Our goal is to create an identity which can grow with the community and easily implemented by all communications staff.”
He said this can be used to create a feeling of home to as many people as possible.
“We try to engage the community as much as possible,” he said adding how the brand is used is as important as how the brand looks.
He asked if this was something the township wanted to appear on a sign or on a baseball cap.
“At the end of the day our job is to present the attributes of Puslinch as clearly and honestly as possible,” Aubie said. “By doing that people will understand why they should come to the area.”
Councillor Matthew Bulmer said he now understood that brand and logo are two different things.
“To call this a logo development project would diminish its value to the community,” Bulmer said.
“We are trying to develop a brand which shows the vision and values of the community.”
Mayor Dennis Lever stated Puslinch has gone through a number of changes in just the past few years.
He pointed to Canada Post’s efforts to reallign postal addresses.
Lever explained a large portion of the township was designated as either rural routes of Guelph or Cambridge.
The intent was to relabel these areas as Puslinch.
However, Lever noted concerns were voice from an Aberfoyle resident who used Aberfoyle as a postal address and did not want to lose that identity.
“There is a real unknown aspect to Puslinch once you get outside of the township,” Lever said.
“We need to have a common message.”
A large number of those attending the Aberfoyle Market are not from the area, and Lever suggested those individuals could provide a unique perspective on how people feel about Puslinch.
He said this branding exercise comes out of the challenges faced by local businesses and individuals.
“Just last night, my wife and I were at a store in Cambridge and talking to a person whose parents used to live in Puslinch,” Lever said.
That person’s comment was “… well, it’s really just Cambridge isn’t it?” Lever said.
“So we really do need to have an identity to market.”
Lever said the industrial and commercial sector in Puslinch is very large and pays a significant portion of the bills. In the short term, the company will wrap up its research portion and get feedback before starting the design work.
Aubie said branding can help change people’s minds about what a place actually is. “Our definition of place is in giving a space meaning.”
The current plan is to complete the project by November.
