The symbol at the center of Sebastopol’s centennial logo was meant to be an artsy “S.”
Instead, some viewing the angular, rigid letter, intersected by a perpendicular, wavy line, were taken aback by a rather inadvertent and offensive image –a swastika.
And so the logo’s creator, graphic artist and Web designer Andrea Orvik, has been sent back to the drawing board.
Her design, featuring an “S” for “Sebastopol” adorned with grapes and apples, was one of more than 22 entries submitted for a logo contest held to celebrate the city’s upcoming June centennial. It was chosen by a selection committee of city representatives in January and then slated for approval at a city council meeting held later in the month.
At the selection committee meeting, Kenyon Webster, Sebastopol’s planning director and the contest’s organizer, noted the logo’s resemblance to the Nazi hate symbol. At that time, however, his observation did not make much of an impression.
“I don’t think the other people saw it, or that image just didn’t come through as strongly for them,” he said. “They liked the design and the concept and they liked the colors.”
Then during the city council meeting, a Sebastopol resident also saw the swastika. She brought this up to the council during public comment time.
The council “was absolutely concerned,” said Webster. “In response they asked the artist to modify the image of the ‘S’ to be smoother. The artist, who said she absolutely never intended to draw a swastika, agreed.”
Carolyn Metz, regional director for the Jewish Community Agency and Federation of Sonoma County, agreed that there was probably not “any bad intention on the part of the artist or the people who chose the design.” But she is pleased to see that it’s being redesigned because “it does look like a swastika.”
Swastikas, she said, “are offensive. They immediately bring to mind, among the Jewish population, a very painful part of our history.”
Sebastopol’s Jewish community is a sizeable one, making up the third-largest Jewish populous in Sonoma County. There is no formally established synagogue in the town, but its residents are active nonetheless, she said.
“Interestingly enough…no one from the community contacted us about the logo,” Metz added. “That surprised me because there are usually people out there who are paying attention” at city council meetings.
The town is known for its liberal-minded and artsy atmosphere. Three of the five city council members, for instance, are members of the Green party, said Webster.
When he planned the logo contest Webster never imagined it would turn into such a controversy. He just thought it would be nice for the progressive city, incorporated in 1902, to put a new design on its business cards, stationery and city proclamations
“The objective now, of course, is to get away from any sense of a swastika,” he said.
The Sebastopol City Council will consider Orvik’s revisions at its Tuesday meeting. But “if the swastika issue is still there,” Webster said the city might “just re-open the contest.”