In June, the call went out to Dayton-area artists and designers: Design a logo for next year’s NATO assembly in Dayton.
“How can we connect local talent and give them the opportunity to be seen across the world,” Chris Kershner, president and chief executive of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, said at chamber offices in downtown Dayton. “We were thrilled when we had 36 logos that were submitted for this competition.”
Those entries have been winnowed down to seven finalists. Now your input is sought. We’re accepting feedback through Friday, Oct. 18 at DaytonDailyNews.com.
“In partnership with the Dayton Daily News, we are going to have an online poll, so that the public can weigh in and give us their input,” Kershner said.
NATO officials will choose the final logo by Oct. 31.
The finalists were designed by “three amazing artists,” Kershner said.
• Elizabeth Kimmel, owner of Caraway Design Company, LLC. She is a graduate of Clark State College.
• Kim Swigart, founder and chief creative officer of the ad agency DezignHive. She is an alumna of The Modern College of Design in Kettering.
• Josh Trippier, a member of the marketing team at Wright State University. He is a graduate of Wright State University.
Swigart, who designed three of the finalists, said she aimed for a logo that captured “the pride of the Wright Brothers.” She wanted a logo that partially echoed earlier assembly logos.
“The skyline being recognizable, the color palette from the NATO corporate brand, the identity to reflect their values,” she said.
Trippier said he wanted to “pay homage to the Wright Brothers, to the innovation that goes on in Dayton and all the people here.”
“I wanted to express unity; the bottom logo has a peace olive branch, with the stars, stripes, and kind of an aviation, forward-thinking flight. Hopefully, it pays tribute to the international stage and here in Dayton,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner and Dayton advocates first announced in July that NATO parliamentarians would visit the area next year to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, the agreement reached in November 1995 at the Hope Hotel and Conference Center, just outside Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, to end fighting between Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia.
Last week, organizers publicly identified venues for the three-day event, over Memorial Day Weekend next year, which will bring 300 parliamentarians to Dayton, with an expected 1,000 people altogether.
CareSource properties and the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center will host the assembly, with a possible closing celebration at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
The assembly links NATO and the parliaments of its member countries.
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