Subject: CivicIn7 Austin | City Unveils First-Ever Official Brand
Good afternoon,
Welcome to CivicIn7 Austin, your fact-checked guide to the city's civic life. Today brings a major announcement from City Hall that aims to change how Austinites recognize and interact with city services.
(1) Today's Focus
For the first time in its 185-year history, the City of Austin has an official brand and logo. Unveiled today by City Manager T.C. Broadnax, the new brand is the result of a multi-year, $1.1 million initiative aimed at unifying the city's vast and often disconnected array of departmental identities.
Currently, over 300 different logos are used across various city departments. The new brand—featuring a stylized "A" representing Austin's hills and rivers—is designed to create a single, recognizable identity for all city services. Officials say this will make services easier for residents to navigate, recognize, and trust.
The new branding will be rolled out gradually, starting October 1st on digital platforms like the city website. To minimize costs, physical assets like vehicles, uniforms, and signs will only be updated as they reach their scheduled end-of-life for replacement. The uniforms for police, fire, and EMS will not change.
How This Affects You: Starting October 1st, city services on austin.gov will have a unified look, potentially making it easier to find everything from permit applications to park reservations in one recognizable system. The 300+ different logos currently used across departments have made it difficult for residents to know when they're interacting with official city services—this aims to solve that confusion.
Source: City of Austin Official Announcement
(2) The Rundown
Education: More than 20 Austin ISD campuses must develop state-mandated "turnaround plans" after receiving unacceptable accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency. In a letter to families today, Superintendent Matias Segura stated that 12 of these schools face their third consecutive "unacceptable" rating, requiring the most intensive interventions.
How This Affects You: Parents can check if their child's school is on the turnaround list at TXschools.gov by searching for their specific campus. Schools entering their third year face potential state takeover—a process that could fundamentally change how these campuses operate. Parents should expect to receive detailed intervention plans from their campus in the coming weeks.
Source: KVUE News
Transportation: The Texas Department of Transportation's newly approved 10-year plan includes a nearly $4 billion investment for the Austin area. The funding targets major congestion points, with significant projects planned for I-35, Loop 360, SH 71 near the airport, and RM 620.
How This Affects You: The I-35 and Loop 360 projects could begin impacting your daily commute in the coming years. Construction timelines and specific project details are available on TxDOT's Austin district website.
Source: Community Impact
County Budget: The Travis County Commissioners Court is currently in the middle of its "mark-up" sessions for the county's own budget. These working meetings, which are happening today and tomorrow, are where the fine details of county spending and the tax rate are debated before a final vote.
How This Affects You: These sessions determine your county property tax rate and services like healthcare, courts, and roads. The final vote is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9th, and residents can attend to see how their tax dollars will be allocated.
Source: Travis County Clerk's Office
(3) By the Numbers
300+ That's the number of different logos currently used across Austin city departments, services, and programs—creating what officials call a "fragmented" identity that the new unified brand aims to solve.
$564,000 The value of the contract the City Council authorized last year with consultants Pentagram Design and TKO Advertising to develop the new city brand. The total cost of the initiative, including internal city resources and implementation planning, is approximately $1.1 million. Source: Community Impact
(4) The Civic Calendar
Tomorrow @ 9 AM: Final Travis County Commissioners Court Budget Mark-Up Session.
Tuesday, Sept 9th: Next Travis County Commissioners Court Voting Session.
Thursday, Sept 11th: The next regular voting meeting of the Austin City Council.
— The CivicIn7 Team
