[Summit] New Logo

Sun Apr 7 01:46:23 UTC 2019

 I can’t speak here as a Summit member because now I don’t even live on the East Side (although I was once listed as a member of SNA’s advisory board), and haven’t lived in the Summit Neighborhood since 1956-57 when I was 6-8 years old , lived at 40 Burlington Street, attended Summit Avenue School, visited Al Abelson’s soda fountain on Hope and watched the then-brand-new Mickey Mouse Club. [My English physicist-father had a 2-year Fulbright scholarship at Brown.]
So these are just my own thoughts, rather than part of an internal discussion between Summit members and neighbours.
You can see the logo (“sna” topped by the silhouettes of three houses, all in monotone black) on this SNA page, among others,http://www.sna.providence.ri.us/who-we-are-2/ 
Other readers should know that this was probably a free contribution from a member who makes a living in graphic design (with which I’ve sometimes dabbled without gaining any true proficiency). So any criticism should be directed at the work itself, and not at the designer’s generous labors.
I have to say, however, coming from outside, that in general I tend to share former SNA Pres. Jim Kelley’s reaction.

For one thing, even if the logo has be legible at very small size and low resolution, nothing stops the original logo from having more colours than monochrome black and white. Multiple colours might not be easily seen or reproduced at very small sizes or when reproduced on paper in black and white, but that doesn’t stop the basic logotype from being polychrome.
However, that might very well not apply to doors and windows, which would become tiny or invisible at very small sizes or resolutions. Putting those non-abstract details on a larger logo would make it differ from the smaller ones.
Although the logo copies from one used for many years by the Summit association (as slightly different arrangements of houses have been used by, among others, Fox Point’s association; see the attached FPNA image, also visible here: https://www.fpna.net/ ), it might be better to use the outline or image of some one single thing that would stand out even at small sizes, such as a tree (which I think was once suggested when SNA’s board was considering the design of logos and T-shirts). 
The difficult thing is to think of something that is unique to a neighborhood and readily identifiable — to use a grossly-overused word now being abused by Jason Fane, iconic. Federal Hill, for example, can and does use the pine cone from the arch over Atwells Avenue.
And one always has to weigh the possible advantages of a new image (especially one that doesn’t uniquely evoke the Summit neighborhood or northern Hope Street) against the loss of instant identification by those familiar with the relatively-old three-house theme of SNA.
My prose tends to be even longer, more discursive and more laborious than usual when I’m sleepy, so I’ll stop here.
Best regards to all,
Dave
Attachment:

    On Saturday, April 6, 2019, 7:57:55 PM EDT, James Kelley <jameskelley4444 at gmail.com> wrote:  

 I view Summit as a welcoming neighborhood and not just just three objects representing the types of housing in the neighborhood. Mabe the fountain and the garden.
On Sat, Apr 6, 2019, 7:43 PM Anne Holland <aholland at gmail.com> wrote:

I haven’t seen it, but I am involved with logo decisions professionally and I can say logos overall have changed sharply in the past five years because it has to look good in a 1/2” square or even smaller. This is because of how the majority of people will view it in social media. So details like windows and doors get left out. 

Sent from my iPad
On Apr 6, 2019, at 6:47 PM, James Kelley <jameskelley4444 at gmail.com> wrote:

And doors.
On Sat, Apr 6, 2019, 6:45 PM James Kelley <jameskelley4444 at gmail.com> wrote:

Just received the latest SNA Newsletter. Wonderful as always. I have a comment on the new logo.
It appears that it shows single family, three family and two family housing which is certainly true for our neighborhood. However, IMHO, the three objects seems a bit dark and stark and I think a few windows would have been nice.

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