The Village of Ashcroft is sporting a new look, thanks to a recently-unveiled logo that was approved by council at a special meeting on Aug. 7.
Complete with a desert- and river-inspired colour scheme, the look also comes with a new tagline: Heart of the True Desert. It replaces the village's previous tagline, "Wellness Awaits You", which was adopted nearly 20 years ago.
As part of its strategic plan for 2024–2026, council asked the community if there was an appetite to update the logo and tagline. After determining there was a desire for change, council hired Marian Lowe of Design CoCreate to obtain feedback and develop various options.
"It was so much fun," says Margaret Moreira, economic development and tourism coordinator for the Village of Ashcroft.
She says the process was a learning curve for her, and credited Lowe with taking the ideas that were developed through extensive community input and really bringing them to life. "She's very talented," says Moreira.
After narrowing it down to four designs and taglines, the community was surveyed, though some of their planned events were delayed or changed due to the impacts of the Shetland Creek wildfire. But with the help of some pop-up events for more feedback, they narrowed down the options.
Moreira says the feedback they have been getting on the new logo has been really positive. "We're really excited."
The new logo and tagline aim to evoke images of the area, which is the only true arid desert in Canada. Ashcroft mayor Barbara Roden says that council wanted to really "lean into" the true desert description.
"I know that some people wanted us to use 'historic,' because that's what a lot of people love about Ashcroft," she says. "But almost every community in the B.C. Interior could use 'historic' to describe themselves. Being Canada's only true desert is something unique to Ashcroft, and the landscape and climate are what attract a lot of people to the community."
The desert colour palette includes hues drawn from the sagebrush covering the hillsides, the Thompson River running through the community, and the colours of sand and desert sunsets. It is meant to perform double duty, as both representative of the desert landscape and of the warmth of the climate and people and community.
The new visual identity was presented to council for a final decision, and "the open and genuine welcome of the residents of the village emerged as the most important factor" for why people choose to live in Ashcroft, according to the designer.
