The Jurupa Valley City Council last week approved a logo design, the city’s first, nearly three years after first allocating funding for the brand identity project.
“We now have a new city logo, which, of course, is emblematic of the nine communities, because it is the wagon wheel, the spokes,” Mayor Brian Berkson said at the September 4 meeting. “But, even more importantly, it reminds us of what we see all the time in the community.”
The council’s decision was the culmination of years of work that Assistant City Manager Michael Flad said started with the selected firm, Rival Creative, talking with city staff, committee members and other community stakeholders including the school district and the business community.
“The process included dozens of different logo options from the community, focus groups, community survey and city council to consider, several community meetings, four different city council study session[s] and meetings with city staff,” Flad said in an email to The Riverside Record, noting that the city had paid just over $23,000 for Rival Creative’s work. “The process was very inclusive of public input, which of course takes time, and when making decisions based on personal preference, consensus is difficult to achieve.”
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The newly approved logo features a wagon wheel partially stuck in the ground with nine visible spokes — one for each of the communities that make up the city — and the words “City of Jurupa Valley,” below it.
The final option was one of four presented to the council at the meeting, including a second wagon wheel choice that featured a full wagon wheel with the city’s name across the lower half. The other two options featured a branding iron motif, tying the letters “J” and “V” together.
“I like what [the wagon wheel option] represents,” Councilmember Veronica Sanchez said. “It represents the core of who we are and what started in Jurupa Valley.”
However, personally, Sanchez said she really liked the branding iron option with the letters “JV” side by side in a circle and the words, “City of Jurupa Valley,” beneath it.
“I feel like [that option] kind of shows modernization,” she said. “It kind of shows…that we are a community that is moving forward.”
Mayor Pro Tem Chris Barajas said he had no opinion to share, but when pushed said he would support the public commenters who said they preferred a wagon wheel motif. Councilmember Armando Carmona shared that those who participated in a quick social media poll he ran the day of the meeting also chose the option with the partial wagon wheel, though he personally preferred the branding iron option.
Berkson said Jurupa Valley, to him, has always been represented by the wagon wheel.
“I think, to me, the decision is easy because it’s consistent with what we’ve, you know, always been,” he said. “And we’ve already gotten basically five out of five to say, ‘Let’s use [the partial wagon wheel], so without objection, [that] will be the new city logo.”
The city will continue to use the city seal for all official documents, with the new city logo being used for marketing and branding purposes.
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