The city of Bellaire's strategic plan identifies a city logo as one of the many initiatives dedicated to enhancing its beautification and placemaking. (Emily Lara/Community Impact)
The Bellaire Culture and Arts Board is seeking a second round of community feedback for the development of a new city logo, this time on two newly refined design concepts.
Board Chair Gay Mayeux and member Kristi Coffey showcased the concept pair on Sept. 21 to City Council, which unanimously advanced the designs to a 30-day public comment period.
How we got here
In May, Bellaire officials adopted a strategic plan identifying both a new city logo and entryway marker installations as initiatives supporting the city’s overall beautification and placemaking.
The Arts Board was initially tasked with exploring possibilities for these markers. However, in doing so, the group uncovered a larger need for a city logo that will strengthen Bellaire’s public image and capture the distinct character of its community, according to the city website.
After building upon prior historical research conducted by the city and analyzing the evolution of its logo over the past decade, the Arts Board presented the initial logo design concept to City Council in June.
Bellaire officials approved the conceptual design with a request that the board collect feedback on it from community residents to help shape future refinements and establish direction, per presentation details.
To support continued development of the logo, City Council additionally authorized a not-to-exceed amount of $25,000 in the fiscal year 2026-27 budget for professional design and branding at the June meeting. The bulk of this sum will go toward the development of a comprehensive municipal brand standards guide that will allow for consistent, multi-purpose usage of the final selected logo across city departments, vendors and community partners, per agenda documents.
Meeting highlights
In their joint Sept. 21 presentation, Mayeux and Coffey summarized the resident feedback they received on the conceptual design.
Common themes and elements mentioned in the 107 survey responses collected were:
Preferences for the revised logo to include trees, live oaks and green space
Preferences for the revised logo to include homes, families, the Bellaire Water Tower and Bellaire’s residential character
Concerns related to the cost and implementation of the municipal logo project
Concerns related to the conceptual artwork appearing AI-generated or unfinished
Inclusion of the word “Texas” on the revised logo
Coffey said the featured trolley was the most discussed element amongst all of the responses. While many locals expressed their appreciation for the trolley’s history, there was an indicated desire to see it in combination with other neighborhood elements that fully encapsulate Bellaire’s broader story.
The framework
The Arts Board collaborated with professional designers to translate the first round of feedback into a design brief outlining areas for exploration while still staying true to the initial concept version and maintaining functionality across city signs, vehicles, embroidery and documents.
The design brief was then uploaded and crowdsourced through the creative platform 99designs in August. This resulted in over 300 submissions from professionals in a committee-launched design contest costing less than $1,900, according to agenda documents.
The contest and design acquisitions were covered by proceeds from the board’s local cookbook and arts festival fundraisers. Coffey said this was done in an effort to reduce costs for the city and, in part, because of the board’s strong support of Bellaire’s logo redevelopment.
“None of the money came out of taxpayer funds,” Coffey told the council. “That was something we believed in and were happy to do.”
Get involved
The two refined design concepts now available for community review represent the proposed primary city logo or seal at this specific project phase.
These concepts were shared with City Council on Sept. 21, with the first one featuring the city’s well-known trolley by itself and the second one depicting the trolley in a Bellaire-inspired environmental setting.
Residents are invited to participate in the 30-day public comment period spanning until Oct. 21. They may submit their preferences and general feedback through this submission page.
In the first round of community feedback, board member Kristi Coffey said the featured trolley within the conceptual logo was the most discussed element out of all of the responses. Courtesy city of Bellaire
Once the feedback window has closed, the Arts Board will review the comments received, evaluate the concepts in comparison to the established functional criteria and return to City Council at a later date with their findings and a final recommendation, per the presentation.
At this time, Bellaire officials are not adopting a final logo or authorizing the replacement of existing city assets.
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