Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Ironwood continues district branding conversation
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood — The conversation regarding the Ironwood Area Schools’ branding effort continued Tuesday as district officials held another meeting with various stakeholders.
A group of approximately 20 parents, teachers, coaches and community members met at the school to continue the discussion about branding that was started with a meeting in September where the district selected the shade of red it wanted to make the district’s color going forward.
Tuesday’s discussion centered on what version of the Red Devil the district should use, with Superintendent Travis Powell showing the audience the wide variety of images that can be found throughout the Luther L. Wright K-12 School.
“There’s at least four different versions of the devil imagery just in our gym,” Powell said. “As we move forward with marketing ourselves, I think it’s important first to identify which version, which image do we wish to use as the one that will represent us.”
Powell said some of the district’s sports teams and the booster club are holding off on making purchases until these types of decisions are made, so the sooner the process can be completed the better.
Ultimately, the group favored the devil used on the safety mats or crash pads on the walls behind the basketball hoops in the school’s second floor gym.
Powell also showed the group what some local organizations have done during their recent rebranding efforts, including Gogebic Community College’s policy regarding the proper use of the the school’s logo and colors in various situations.
If Ironwood adopted a similar policy, it would also clarify which shades of gray, black and white would be used in district-authorized materials and what color patterns would go together.
The group also discussed what fonts the district should adopt for the lettering on its materials. No official fonts were decided, with the group agreeing that some fonts work better in some places than others — such as a script font better suited for baseball uniforms rather than basketball uniforms.
Powell said his goal with the branding policy was not to be too restrictive while also creating an identity for the school that makes it immediately recognizable as the “Ironwood Red Devils.”
“We want to be specific, but we don’t want to be confining,” Powell said. “I think your point about everybody doesn’t want to walk around wearing the same things as everybody else is worth remembering. So we want to be clear, but not be stifling.”
Moving forward, Powell said he will put together some options for possible fonts and other decisions that still need to be made. He will share those options with those who have attended a meeting and, either a consensus will clearly emerge, or the district will organize another meeting.
