DALTON, Mass. — The Green Committee voted to select Ashlyn Roch's submission for its Climate Action Plan logo during its November meeting.
The town's CAP consultant Blue Strike, will have its graphic designer covert the drawing into a usable logo for the town.
The committee is developing a climate action plan with Blue Strike to achieve net-zero by 2050 by seeking strategies to decrease the town's dependence on fossil fuels for homes, businesses, municipal facilities, and vehicles.
It received 24 logo submissions from Wahconah Regional High School students.
"The response was phenomenal," committee member Laurie Martinelli said.
Blue Strike had its graphic designer narrow the submission down to the three most compatible options that can be turned into a logo.
"Everything that we got, the vast majority of them were interesting. It's really what the designer is saying [will make the best commercial logo]. It's not the best art," committee member Todd Logan said.
The graphic designer said they preferred Roch's submission because it is simple and appealing to various groups.
"It has clear elements organized in a circular layout, which are also unique to the town of Dalton. This concept would be a strong start for developing this logo," the designer said.
Committee members also pointed out how Roch's logo showcased Town Hall and incorporated the environmental element with the leaf growing from the bottom of the building.
"It reminds you of Dalton. You got the steeple with the clock. I mean, that's very recognizable," Martinelli said.
Committee member Antonio Pagliarulo agreed, adding that it was simple and direct.
"I'm assuming that's a leaf in the foreground [which] will be colorized. It kind of is a very loud green statement. For me, as a guy who does a lot of commercial advertising, I think it's the cleanest in terms of how to turn it into the logo," Logan said.
"I think it'll present really well as a clean logo. And here's the key: it'll be highly scalable. So, in other words, you could make that really small, and people will still get the gist of what it is. So that's that's my personal reason."
Grace Radzick's submission was selected as the runner-up because "it is even more simplified and would make a solid logo."
"The design is strong and would cater to the masses and be recognizable to people who are not from the area. The sunshine and the mountains are a more general logo design," the designer said.
Martinelli also highlighted how she liked that the logo incorporated the text "Green Dalton Committee" in it.
"I like it that she recognized the committee. In fact, I wish we could have that one on the first one," she said.
Board members, however, decided not to choose the logo because the mountains showcased did not reflect the gentle slopes the area's mountains are known for; rather, it had snowy peaks.
The board also liked Ella Reardon's submission because of the "exceptional artwork" but felt it was too complex to be converted into a logo.
Committee member Thomas Irwin said he would like her certificate to recognize the artwork as "exceptional."
The designer highlighted the keyhole shape, which is uncommon, unexpected, and clever for a CAP project.
"The plants look great and the white rabbit is cool as long as the rabbit concept has local relevance. This bolder design would be my choice for further development," the designer said.
Irwin said the 20 people he solicited input from preferred Roch's submission and Radzick's for the runner-up.
However, many people, an excess of 10, felt that Reardon's logo had exceptional artwork and said it would be a privilege to have it somewhere on the webpage, he said.
As long as the students are credited, Pagliarulo said he does not see an issue with utilizing the logos at some point in the future.
"I think it's special, especially at this point in their lives, to have them feel energized by being selected, at least to some level, it's something they can put on their applications to college and so forth. And I think that's all excellent," Irwin said.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Pittsfield Council Says 'Yes' to Soccer at Crane Park
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
The pitch will have the logos of the city and the US. and Massachusetts soccer associations.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is gladly accepting a "mini-pitch" from the U.S. Soccer Foundation to bring games back to Crane Park.
Fueling excitement around the World Cup, U.S. Soccer has been working with the Massachusetts Youth Soccer League to make these facilities available to 20 communities — one of which will be at the park at the intersection of Benedict Road and Springside Avenue.
The City Council accepted the gift on Tuesday during its regular meeting.
A mini pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates. It has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together; installed on the existing inline hockey court.
Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham said he has gone door to door speaking with nearby residents, and they are "really excited" about the upgrade. He also sees it as a great addition.
"They say that nobody really uses the court a ton now, and they are excited to see kids back on there playing," he said.
Decades ago, the Crane Park facility was a wading pool. It closed in 1980, and before the turn of the century, it was filled in and marked for hockey.
Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained that the wooden border around the rink is showing its age, has been vandalized and tagged, and the facility is seeing a "real decline" in use.
"This would seem to be an appropriate spot for us to remove the board system that's in place and install the mini pitch system through this grant," he said.
Lenox Memorial High School has named Sai Sanjana Meesala as valedictorian and Chloe Parsenios as salutatorian for the graduating class of 2026. click for more
Pittsfield High School has announced the students who will speak at graduation ceremonies on Sunday, June 14, at 4 p.m. at Tanglewood in Lenox. click for more
The ceremony took place under a large tent behind the Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Arts Center on the School's Holmes Road campus and was broadcast worldwide via Zoom. click for more