The Branding of Seeley Lake

SEELEY LAKE – Members of the Seeley Lake Community Foundation (SLCF) and several business owners in Seeley Lake formed a committee to reinvigorate the effort to brand Seeley Lake that started six years ago. This past April they unveiled two logos for Seeley Lake, one with the Change Your Pace slogan. They are available for anyone to use to help promote Seeley Lake.

The idea to brand Seeley Lake started in the early 1980s. Seeley Lake resident Kris Gullikson was a recent graduate of art school when she moved to Seeley Lake in 1983. She started helping businesses with signage as a way to beautify the town. She built 30 signs during a three-year period.

While on the board of directors with the Seeley Lake Chamber of Commerce, Gullikson designed and produced the first color brochure promoting Seeley Lake. Gullikson said businesses participated and the total cost was $750. The brochure was available at the Visitors Center and volunteers attended three or four trade shows around the region to represent the area and promote it.

"I guess you'd call it our early outreach and marketing efforts," wrote Gullikson in an email.

While various community groups including the Seeley Lake Community Council made other branding efforts that Gullikson and many others were involved in, it wasn't until the fall of 2015 where the research, generated by a branding committee led by Lee Boman in 2010, combined with new ideas to create a logo and slogan for Seeley Lake.

"The SLCF committee proposed a much smaller group and finally got done what has taken so long to do, which is really very simple: Give the community an identifiable logo and tag line that can be used anywhere and in combination with any business' current logo/brand to build a unique brand for Seeley Lake," wrote Gullikson.

The revived SLCF branding committee included Lee Boman, Emily Rindal, Kris Martin, Kris Gullikson, Jack Kopps, Gary Miller, Carla Schade and Anne Beach.

Beach wrote in an email the committee's intent was, "To provide free design work and contribute to the beautification of Seeley Lake by supplementing the existing Seeley Lake blue banners."

The group, some of which had been in on the Maclean Festival logo process, decided that an online design company should be used for the sake of variety. Gullikson requested that the group allow her to also submit a design for consideration to which they agreed.

Gullikson said she drew from her experiences living in Seeley Lake to create the logo. She identified the Western larch tree, the shape of the state of Montana and the lake as part of the identity of the area.

"When you have spent time in western Montana, you realize how special it is," wrote Gullikson. "Part of what makes it that way is the elements I chose to include in the design."

Gullikson said she worked constantly for two weeks to complete her designs by the deadline. Her two designs were among more than 100 designs that were submitted. The group chose her designs.

"I felt rather good about representing the local graphic artist," wrote Gullikson.

Gullikson was paid $300 for the logo, which is the basic logo fee for the online company and an anonymous donor paid her an additional $150 after learning about all the time it takes to prepare final art for which she was appreciative.

"The logo shows what we are most proud of: mountains, lakes and our beautiful Tamaracks on the Montana shaped background," wrote Beach.

The slogan the group chose was Change Your Pace.

"We believe the slogan that Seeley Lake is the perfect place to Change Your Pace," wrote Beach. "Whether that be boating, mountain biking, or relaxing and taking in the fresh mountain air. Change Your Pace can be an adrenaline rush on a snowmobile or decompressing while fly fishing."

The official logo and slogan were unveiled at the Double Arrow Lodge April 28. They are available for anyone to print, on anything as long as the logo is unaltered and is larger than any other image. While the colors of the two-tone logo must remain the same, the one color logo can be printed in any single color. The SLCF purchased banners to place on the light poles downtown to welcome visitors into the community. They were installed prior to Memorial Day weekend so visitors could appreciate them.

Owner of the Branding Shack Mark Kues screen-printed the logo for many businesses in the town. Good Times ordered t-shirts with the two different logos. Kues printed the Pop's Place logo and Cory's Valley Market logo on the sleeves of t-shirts with the Seeley Lake logo on the front.

Tamaracks Resort ordered pajama pants, t-shirts and sweatshirts with the logos.

"People really liked the t-shirts and sweatshirts," said Tamaracks Resort Owner Sue Heagy. "We were really happy with it."

SLCF used the slogan for the Change Your Pace Challenge which raised more than $113,000 for local non-profits and service organizations. In addition, SLCF sold the t-shirts at the Change Your Pace Challenge and Bob Marshall Music Festival, which raised about $400 in funds.

Exact Image donated about 200 bumper stickers with the logo and slogan, which were passed out to community members and visitors. 

The Filling Station also incorporated the logo on their employee's uniforms.

Lindey's Prime Steak House has used the stickers on beer steins.

"There has been a lot of positive feedback from the shirts. People like the design because it is a simple design," said Kues who added the single color is more popular because the two-tone needs to be printed on white or it won't stand out as well. "It's a smooth running project. The artwork is there, it is already locked up and ready to roll so the turnaround times are pretty quick."

"I am very proud to have taken part in every one of these efforts, and look forward to finally installing the Seeley Lake Community Gateway signage next spring [that she designed in the late 2000s]," wrote Gullikson. "Where [the Seeley Lake branding project] goes from here will be determined by those who use it."

For more information, available logos and guidelines for use visit http://www.seeleylakecommunityfoundation.org and click on Community Branding under the What You Help Us Do tab.