County commissioners approved a contract Thursday morning with Studio Graphique of Cleveland for the branding of Delaware County for $45,150.

“We were impressed with the fact that working with civic organizations is the sole focus of Studio Graphique’s core business,” said Jane Hawes, project manager. “Very few firms work solely with civic branding.”

After earning two AAA credit ratings in May, county commissioners led a charge for a branding campaign for the county.

Commissioners on July 5 authorized Hawes to administer and direct the branding campaign for Delaware County.

The county issued a request for proposals June 30 with a deadline for submission by the August 1. The proposals were opened August 2 and given to the selection committee to chose a firm for the project. Studio Graphique was chosen from the 25 firms that submitted proposals.

Hawes told The Gazette in August that the highest bid was $169,825 and the lowest bid was for $35,500 with the mean at $60,579.27.

Hawes stated in a news release Thursday that Studio Graphique is the same firm the City of Delaware used for its branding project.

Lee Yoakum, city spokesman, said earlier this year that Delaware spent $49,850 for “branding and way-finding.”

Hawes said in the press release that “Studio Graphique emerged as the top candidate during a competitive review process that included an assessment using two weighted scoring rubrics; presentations by the three finalist firms; and finally a review of references…”

Hawes told commissioners that the work will begin soon with Studio Graphique starting to do research on Delaware County.

“We won’t create a new brand; we will discover the brand we already are. And they will come up with a visual that best represents that,” Hawes said. “We were impressed with their strategy and philosophy as regards civic branding.”

Hawes said the information about the project will be posted on the county’s website (http://www.co.delaware.oh.us/index.php/branding-project-documents) so the public can observe the process and offer input.

The plan calls for rolling out the new county “brand” in February 2017 with new logo, tagline, letterhead and other branding materials so as to coincide with the opening of the new judicial building in June of 2017.