What Makes Blacksburg Unique? Share Your Perspective.
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Help Shape Blacksburg’s Future —Take the Community Branding Survey!
The Town of Blacksburg is launching an exciting initiative to refresh our community brand, and we need your voice to help define who we are and where we’re headed.
This year, we’re partnering with Arnett Muldrow & Associates to capture the character, spirit, and stories that make Blacksburg a welcoming, vibrant, and innovative place to live, work, study, and visit. But a brand isn’t created by consultants, it’s created by community.
Your input will help us: • Tell Blacksburg’s story as a premier place to live, work, and study, reflecting the shared pride and community spirit that define us. • Modernize our identity to match our forward‑thinking spirit. • Build a unified look and message that strengthens collaboration across our community.
Background:
Over the past two decades, Blacksburg’s brand has evolved through several updates, while maintaining a consistent look with similar fonts, layouts, and color palettes across each version.
For many years, the town’s logo featured a distinctive design inspired by Blacksburg’s original sixteen historic squares. This visual element served as a meaningful connection to the town’s early layout and history, helping tell the story of how the community was first shaped.
During the 2010s, this historic reference continued more simply. The sixteen-square design was simplified into a standalone graphic element, separate from the main logo. During this time, a refreshed logo was also introduced, featuring the tagline “A Special Place.” This version aimed to highlight the town’s welcoming character and strong sense of community.
The current logo, introduced in 2018, builds on these earlier efforts with a modern approach. Today, Blacksburg’s brand appears across many touchpoints—from the digital platforms of the town website and social media to physical signage throughout the community. You can still find references to the original sixteen-square motif on wayfinding kiosks, historic building markers, and on select street signs within the original historic area.
Some Town departments use their own logos, but connect back to the overall Town identity, like Parks and Recreation and The Hill Golf Course. This initiative includes these elements to strengthen the Town's identity across departments.
Additionally, several community partner organizations are part of this branding effort in an effort to strengthen the Town's holistic identity. Downtown Blacksburg, Inc. focuses on promoting the downtown area through events and marketing. Main Street Connect represents businesses outside of the downtown corridor, while the Blacksburg Partnership supports Blacksburg's economic development and tourism initiatives. The project will also develop a brand for the Town's new Retail Incubator, "The Local @ 414", which, when open, will provide space for small businesses, host events, and serve as a visitor information center.
What's Next?Now we’re asking YOU to help shape our direction and vision. Share your perspective by taking our short community branding survey.
Additional Engagement: The Town will host a public engagement meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 5:30pm - 6:30pm at the Blacksburg Community Center (725 Patrick Henry Drive) to gather feedback and hear your thoughts.
Your ideas, experiences, and dreams for Blacksburg's future will directly influence the design of our new brand and ensure it reflects the community we love.
Help Shape Blacksburg’s Future —Take the Community Branding Survey!
The Town of Blacksburg is launching an exciting initiative to refresh our community brand, and we need your voice to help define who we are and where we’re headed.
This year, we’re partnering with Arnett Muldrow & Associates to capture the character, spirit, and stories that make Blacksburg a welcoming, vibrant, and innovative place to live, work, study, and visit. But a brand isn’t created by consultants, it’s created by community.
Your input will help us: • Tell Blacksburg’s story as a premier place to live, work, and study, reflecting the shared pride and community spirit that define us. • Modernize our identity to match our forward‑thinking spirit. • Build a unified look and message that strengthens collaboration across our community.
Background:
Over the past two decades, Blacksburg’s brand has evolved through several updates, while maintaining a consistent look with similar fonts, layouts, and color palettes across each version.
For many years, the town’s logo featured a distinctive design inspired by Blacksburg’s original sixteen historic squares. This visual element served as a meaningful connection to the town’s early layout and history, helping tell the story of how the community was first shaped.
During the 2010s, this historic reference continued more simply. The sixteen-square design was simplified into a standalone graphic element, separate from the main logo. During this time, a refreshed logo was also introduced, featuring the tagline “A Special Place.” This version aimed to highlight the town’s welcoming character and strong sense of community.
The current logo, introduced in 2018, builds on these earlier efforts with a modern approach. Today, Blacksburg’s brand appears across many touchpoints—from the digital platforms of the town website and social media to physical signage throughout the community. You can still find references to the original sixteen-square motif on wayfinding kiosks, historic building markers, and on select street signs within the original historic area.
Some Town departments use their own logos, but connect back to the overall Town identity, like Parks and Recreation and The Hill Golf Course. This initiative includes these elements to strengthen the Town's identity across departments.
Additionally, several community partner organizations are part of this branding effort in an effort to strengthen the Town's holistic identity. Downtown Blacksburg, Inc. focuses on promoting the downtown area through events and marketing. Main Street Connect represents businesses outside of the downtown corridor, while the Blacksburg Partnership supports Blacksburg's economic development and tourism initiatives. The project will also develop a brand for the Town's new Retail Incubator, "The Local @ 414", which, when open, will provide space for small businesses, host events, and serve as a visitor information center.
What's Next?Now we’re asking YOU to help shape our direction and vision. Share your perspective by taking our short community branding survey.
Additional Engagement: The Town will host a public engagement meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 5:30pm - 6:30pm at the Blacksburg Community Center (725 Patrick Henry Drive) to gather feedback and hear your thoughts.
Your ideas, experiences, and dreams for Blacksburg's future will directly influence the design of our new brand and ensure it reflects the community we love.
Help Shape the Future Brand of Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg is developing a refreshed community brand that reflects the character, strengths, and aspirations of our town. This effort will help guide how Blacksburg is presented to residents, businesses, visitors, students, and future investment.
Your input will help identify what makes Blacksburg unique, what values should guide the community’s identity, and how the town should represent itself moving forward.
This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete. All responses are anonymous unless you choose to share your contact information at the end.
Thank you for helping shape the future of Blacksburg.
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