Entries Don’t Hit Mark : Santa Clarita Still Looking for THE Logo

A bulldozer knocking down an oak tree, although a clever comment about insensitive developers, just wasn’t right.

Spanish settlers, wearing tall hats and bonnets that made them look like Pilgrims from Plymouth Rock, also didn’t seem to work.

Neither did the winning logo in a contest to create an official seal for the new city of Santa Clarita. At least for City Council members.

The winning design by Green Valley graphic artist Todd Cooper had the area’s rural hallmarks--an oak, a wagon wheel, a red-tailed hawk and hills--but the City Council decided to continue searching for a logo that will capture the character of the community.

The council decided last week to set aside Cooper’s winning contest entry and will advertise for a graphic arts firm to create the final design.

Councilwoman Jan Heidt, who proposed the contest, praised Cooper’s design but said the council wants a logo that portrays the city’s future, as well as its past. She said the council also hopes to see family life pictured in the logo.

“Surprisingly, there weren’t any that had a picture of the family,” she said.

But the contest, which attracted about 180 entries, was not for naught, Heidt said. “We’ve got a lot of ideas now,” she said. And Cooper might work with the arts firm the city eventually hires, she said.

The council reserved the right to veto the final winner when it announced the contest in January. “The idea was, more than anything, to get the community involved in the city,” Heidt said.

The entries, some in color, others slickly produced in black and white, were displayed at a park and a school building in March. Citizens voted for their favorite designs and a five-member committee, appointed by the City Council, selected Cooper’s design in April from the top five vote-getters. Cooper received a $500 award for his effort.

Among the entries, horses, mountains and streams were popular symbols, as were oak trees and oak leaves. One logo came in the shape of an acorn.

Some school children submitted less idyllic scenes, including the bulldozer pushing over the oak tree, condominiums, oil wells and traffic.

One student drew a bulldog wearing a turtleneck that cheered, “Go bulldogs!”

A seventh-grader at Sierra Vista Junior High School asked Heidt a question about the contest that betrayed his show business aspirations. “Will we get residuals?” he wanted to know.