After several months of examining the character of Saluda, consulting with marketing experts and deliberating the essential icons of Saluda that best represent this small mountain town, The City of Saluda now has a new brand. A Branding Saluda Committee, which included Mayor Fred Baisden, City Commissioner Lynn Cass, Saluda business owner Cathy Jackson and Planning Board member James Hrynyshyn, met with Sarah Thew, co-owner of Carolina Blue Design Group, in Hendersonville over a three-month period to determine what logo would best represent Saluda. The one chosen reflects the essence of what makes Saluda different from other towns in WNC.

 

The task was to establish a brand that encapsulates all that Saluda is while keeping the image clean, simple, gender neutral and welcoming.

 

“Saluda has so many icons from which to create an image that it was challenging to come up with one single image. Cresting at the top of the steepest mainline standard gauge railroad grade in the country, Saluda is where the foothills end and the Blue Ridge Mountains begin. Its authentic Main Street is on the National Register of Historic Places and has become home to many artists who are inspired by its slow pace and natural resources of the Green River Gorge and Pacolet River Gorge,” says Lynn Cass.

 

Members of the Saluda Downtown Foundation, formerly Saluda’s Small Town Main Street program, met almost two years ago to start the branding process. The Branding Committee continued the discussion with further meetings to make the final decision.

 

The logo is to be used on all written materials, all communication visuals and signs, all web pages and sites managed by the City of Saluda.

 

 -Submitted by Cathy Jackson