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MEET AUSTIN'S NEW BRAND

Austin is a vibrant, diverse community and a rapidly changing and thriving city. To meet this moment and better serve Austinites now and in the future, your local City of Austin has introduced a first ever brand that unifies all City services.

Learn how we are:

Making City Government More Accountable to Residents 

"We want our community members to be able to identify  members of our team as City of Austin employees and trust the services we provide." - Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax

As Austin grew, our City leaders recognized the need for a seamless, unified brand system to help all Austinites navigate essential City services. This need was verified by comprehensive community research conducted over a five-year period.

That research confirmed that most respondents did not recognize or have an affinity for the City seal or individual department logos. It highlighted the need to establish a consistent look, tone and voice to make our City services easier to recognize, navigate and trust.

The City addressed that need by investing in creation of a new unified Austin brand system to build trust, improve efficiency in communicating about City services, and ensures consistency across departments.

The unified brand system is more than just a logo. It’s Austin’s story, voice and promise–expressed in consistent colors, typography and language. While we share our community’s deep affection for everything that keeps Austin “weird”, this brand represents your City services. That’s why trust, professionalism, clarity and unity are the building blocks of our new Austin brand. 

Fulfilling Commitment to Austinites 

Austin’s new brand identity fulfills one of the major initiatives identified in the City Council’s adopted strategic planning effort: to set a goal that the City “must establish a consistent and clear City of Austin brand to improve communication, engagement, participation, and pride with residents, businesses, visitors, and employees.”

Embarking on a New Brand Identity

While Austin’s new brand identity encompasses a wide range of communication tools and assets, the most visible and recognizable is the logo.

Working with a team of local brand communication professionals, and incorporating direct feedback from community members and stakeholders, the City developed a brand identity system that embodies our City’s commitment to “Government that Works for All.” 

Diagram of the logo

Austin’s new logo is the inviting centerpiece of the City’s new brand system.

 

Honoring Austin’s History

While our new logo and brand will be displayed across the city, our seal will continue to be used for ceremonial purposes and legal documents.

City of Austin seal

Developing a Unified Brand with Community Input

As owners and daily users of the new brand, Austinites, community groups and employees played a meaningful role in its conception, design, revision and launch.

To organize the perspectives, needs and must-haves of the Austin community, we conducted a series of moderated stakeholder discussions. We asked questions and listened to the valuable opinions shared by affinity groups, quality-of-life commissions, employee groups and community members who represented a cross-section of Austin’s business, faith, academic and cultural communities. Then we factored in, City department workshops, best practices from other large cities and additional primary research.

While the inclusion of hundreds of diverse perspectives added layers and consideration factors to the brand development process, the City prioritized this effort to ensure the creation of a brand system that reflects our vibrant community. 

Investing Smart Today to Save Taxpayer Dollars Tomorrow

Currently, more than 300 logos represent city departments, services and programs. That lack of consistency is simply not an efficient organizational practice. By uniting Austin’s City departments under a single, consistent brand identity, over time the City will achieve substantial savings in customer service efficiency and design implementation while building increased awareness and trust of official City services. Investing wisely now, City leaders have enacted a solution that will serve our community for years to come. 

View of 300 previous City of Austin logos

Working diligently over the past 24 months, Austin invested in a brand program inclusive of community engagement, research, strategy, development and implementation.  

The total investment equals less than .08% of one year of the City’s General Fund budget.

Budget Breakdown 

$207,400 – Visual design and guidelines 
Creation of the brand included a design team researching the current brands across City departments, and considering the extensive feedback received from community members and employees. A team of local designers worked on the visual brand, meeting with focus groups along the way for continuous feedback and iteration.  Once the brand system was established, extensive guidelines were created on how to use the new brand system.

$237,122 – Community engagement and strategy  
Extensive community and employee engagement were included throughout the development phase.   

$270,645 – Public awareness campaign 
Development and execution of a public awareness campaign, including the purchase of advertising. 
 
$175,582 – Employee materials and software 
Work apparel and badge holder lanyards, implementation materials for outreach to employees and community such as event signage and banners, and Citywide design production software. 
 
$186,976 – Project staff and legal counsel 
Temporary project support staff and outside legal counsel

The total cost was $1,077,725. No additional money has been budgeted for this initiative.

Brand Initiative Budget Breakdown Pie Chart

Bringing the Brand to Life 

Starting October 1, 2025, new digital platforms like websites and social media will begin to showcase the new brand. Physical items such as vehicles, uniforms and facility signage will change gradually as they are replaced in their normal life cycle. The new logo will roll out across the community, in a campaign showcasing the dedicated City team members who make our City work for all Austinites. 

Visit our Brand Guidelines