Belgium/New visual identity for the municipality of Waterloo: a stylized lion and a slogan that plays on words
The mayor of Waterloo, Florence Reuter, presented this Monday a new logo to modernize the visual identity of its municipality.
The central element is the famous lion in a stylized version, seen from the front, with a Disney-like mane and the right front paw resting on a globe. The lion of the Battle of Waterloo is however located on the territory of Braine-l'Alleud, but who cares?
The lion remains the lion of Waterloo," explains Florence Reuter. It is the lion of the official coat of arms which was fixed by a royal decree in 1914, so we do not remake history. The lion is attached to the municipality of Waterloo no matter what. It was important to keep the tradition while modernizing its image."
The 1914 coat of arms, with a lion in profile on its base and the left paw (a historical error) on the globe, will still be used on some official documents, but the new, more dynamic logo will soon appear everywhere else: on communal vehicles, on street furniture, on the website and at the entrance of buildings housing public services in particular.
You know Wat!
This new logo is also accompanied by a funny slogan: "You know Wat! Wat, without an h, which means Waterloo.
"You know Wat, it means what it means," continues the mayor. Yes you know Waterloo, everyone knows Waterloo. But we want you to discover many other facets of Waterloo that you don't know: its identity, its center, its businesses and its local actors who make it live and make it dynamic. It's all of this that we want to highlight."
This slogan can also be replaced depending on the circumstances or events by other formulas: "Wat a lovely place" or "Wat a pleasure" for example. Word games are allowed as long as the graphic charter is respected.
A blog and a mini-site
The municipality of Waterloo has also created two additional communication channels. The first is a blog called "Waterloo Trends", aimed at residents, economic players and visitors. It aims to provide them with all kinds of information on the activities of the municipality.
The second is a mini-website that aims to inform the inhabitants of Waterloo about the evolution of the worksites and projects that will change the face of the municipality in the coming years, such as the masterplan of the center, theWe have always said that we would like to see the city of Waterloo in the future," said the Mayor of Waterloo, "but we are not going to do it alone.
"We've always said we don't want to develop Waterloo any more in terms of the number of dwellings, buildings or blocks of apartments, because we've reached a critical density threshold. But we need to keep the community alive, so the main thing is to renovate. We want to concentrate on public spaces, so the center, squares, quality living spaces. And this must be done with the population, we want to work with everyone and that everyone can give their opinion. And this mini-site will allow us to keep up to date with the progress of the projects."
Source: www.rtbf.be
