McKay says ‘contemporary’ new look echoes move into the future
An old friend now has a new face, with the unveiling this week of the Resource Center of Dallas’ new logo and slightly different new name.
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Mike McKay, the center’s executive director, said the new logo is "contemporary to reflect our efforts to not only be present in meeting the needs of the GLBT and HIV/AIDS communities we serve today, but also to look to the future."
The new logo combines the first letters of the organization’s name into a geometric design in blue, green and yellow. The name change — dropping the "of" to make it simply Resource Center Dallas — is intended to bring the name in line with the logo, McKay said.
McKay said staff members had "talked to our stakeholders and surveyed our staff and clients and customers and board members" to find out how those people viewed the clinic.
"What we came of that with was the fact that people identify us with three words: resource, center and Dallas," he said. "They look to us for resources. They see us as a community center, and they know we have been in Dallas for years."
In that same survey, McKay said, people were asked about the center’s old logo, the outline of a house with a lit candle inside.
"We have had the house logo since 1998 or ’99; records over here are kind of fuzzy on some things. And what we found out is that people have a mixed reaction to that logo," McKay said. "Some people liked the house and felt like it symbolized a center of activity. Some people had no idea what it meant, what it symbolized."
They also discovered, he added, that people wanted a logo for the center that "looked unified, like what we are trying to do for the community." Some people wanted to incorporate traditional symbols of the LGBT community, like the rainbow; some wanted something very new and updated; and some wanted to incorporate at least some parts of the old logo.
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| Mike McKay |
"So we took all that, and we came up with this, a blend of the ‘r,’ the ‘c’ and the ‘d’ together, and we created our own rainbow with our own colors. We slanted the tops of the ‘r’ and the ‘d’ to incorpate the roof of the house in the old logo," McKay said.
"We are very proud of [the new logo]" he continued. "We think it takes us into the future while at the same time it pays homage to what we have done and where we came from. It shows that now we are ready for the next phase" in the center’s life.
The new logo is already in use on the center’s Web site, other electronic media and in advertising, McKay said. It will also be used on the center’s new brochures, letterhead and printed materials.
But he said the center will not just discard existing materials bearing the old logo.
"We are being very mindful of our resources," he said. "This will be a transition and the center will use up all existing collateral and materials with the previous logo to make sure that from a cost and conservation standpoint that we continue to be good stewards of our resources and budgeted funds."
Resource Center Dallas, established by the Dallas Gay Alliance in 1983 as the Foundation for Human Understanding, now operates the Nelson-Tebedo Health Resource Center, including a clinic and a food pantry, and the John Thomas Community Center, including the Phil Johnson Historic Archives and Library.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 22, 2009.
so if the logo for resource center dallas is a combination of r c d don’t you think it would have been a better idea to have each character in the wording match the color in the logo so others could get a clue what it all meant?
I guess some of us see it as meaningless but ok.. if he makes the board of directors happy than go for it.
I love the new logo! Well done Mike McKay and team! This is a new era and there are so many areas where the Resource Center is a leader, it is nice to see a fresh face.