Times are changing. So are the Icon logos.

The Bluffton Icon and sister website, Ada Icon, this week introduce new logos to viewers. The logos unveiling is today.

The redesign project started in May and included several versions and fine-tuning.

"We wanted a uniquely Bluffton and Ada look and feel to our logos," said Fred Steiner of the Icon. "Changing logos isn't something you do overnight. It takes planning, studying other logos and a desire to make viewers feel at home on our websites. We think these new logos achieve that hometown feel."

"We chose the Bluffton town hall and Ada railroad depot because, excuse the pun, they are both iconic images in their respective communities."

Bluffton graphic artist, Kat Luginbuhl, created the new logos. She is a Bluffton High School and Goshen College graduate, and is manager of Gallery 323. As a freelance graphic artist, she also designed the cover of “The Bluffton We Never Knew,” photo history book published this year by the Icon.

Bluffton Icon
The logo colors of red, purple and white reflect Bluffton High School and Bluffton University colors. The state outline is replaced with an image of the Bluffton town hall. Fonts used are Century Gothic for the word “Bluffton” and Baskerville for the word “Icon.”

Bluffton will interchange three versions of its new logo. A square logo is used as the masthead. Another is black and white for appropriate one-color usage. The third is a horizontal version.

Ada Icon
The logo colors of purple, gold and white with a black underline reflect Ada High School and Ohio Northern University. The state outline is replaced with an image of the historic Ada railroad depot. Fonts used are Century Gothic and Baskerville.

Ada also has three versions of its new logo. A square logo is used as the masthead. Another is black and white for appropriate one-color usage. The third is horizontal version.

The retired logos
Ronson Slagle, a graphic designer in Cincinnati, designed the original State of Ohio-outline Icon logos. They were introduced on the Icons at the launch of the Ada Icon in 2012.

The idea behind the Icon Ohio logos were that a geographic identifier was needed to show the location of Bluffton and Ada in Ohio, since both Icons were relative unknowns in the news world.

Many newspapers update their layout design scheme about every five years.  The Icon owners decided it was time for a new logo that reflected a hometown feel.