Amarillo struggles to get new logo

Amarillo struggles to get new logo

Families, businesses and entrepreneurs are flocking to the panhandle. Neighborhoods are practically shooting out of previously empty lots. It’s not hard to see that Amarillo, Texas is booming. Yet, an average city without a logo is unheard of.

Recently, around the time of Amarillo’s 100th anniversary, the city decided to release its first logo, designed by Thomas Clemmons. It was only out for a couple days, just long enough for the city to spend more than $12,000 printing the logo on various items. It was then discovered to look extremely similar to the logo of a real estate company in Dubai, Emaar. Ironically, Emaar is also the company that developed the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Amarillo Globe News writer described the actions of the city as “grovel[ing] the ankles of Emaar and promis[ing] to never do such a horrible thing again.”

After abandoning the logo, the city opened a competition online. Designers can submit their logos and citizens can vote on their favorites. The reward for the designer is as much as $1,500.The first round had 563 submissions, and each voter could vote 10 times. Now, round two has opened with 25 submissions. Each voter only has three votes. The top submissions will be presented to the city council Dec. 10. Whichever the winning logo is, Amarillo can rest assured that it’ll be better than a plagiarized Middle Eastern design.