By SHERRY DIGMON
News Publisher
Main Street Atmore unveiled the city’s new brand during a branding launch Thursday, September 1. You might think of a brand as merely a logo, but according to Main Street Atmore Executive Director Niki Bryan, it’s much more than that.
“A brand makes an impact,” she said. “It’s more than a logo and colors. It’s how outsiders view the community as a whole and how we view our community as a whole. A brand creates a new vision for the town.”
Bryan introduced Main Street Alabama State Coordinator Mary Helmer Wirth, who has visited Atmore many times and worked with Bryan before and since the town received the Main Street Alabama designation in 2020.
“Branding is your identity,” Wirth said. “It’s how you move forward.”
Following her comments, Wirth introduced Shawn Terpack, art director with Arnett Muldrow, a creative planning firm in Greenville, S.C.
Terpack said a series of round table discussions had been held with business owners, private citizens, community leaders, students, members of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and others interested in providing input. Those conversations were considered in developing a brand.
“We were looking for a destination brand for downtown Atmore,” Terpack said. “ … There is a renewed energy in Atmore. We want to drive visitors into the community.”
He talked about looking at brands in other communities to see what they use as their identities, the use of colors and patterns and type faces and fonts.
Some people had suggested playing on the “at” in Atmore using the @ sign. Terpack said that seemed “kind of a weird grammar thing” and he didn’t want to go in that direction.
“We’re concentrating on the ‘more’ part of Atmore – new businesses here, new energy,” Terpack said. “We wanted to share the energy the community is exuding right now … This [brand] gives Niki and her organization a way to market themselves … This is a way for the community to start showing renewed energy.”