City of Berkeley logo.
The City of Berkeley, California adopted ITC Rennie Mackintosh (1996) as its official typeface. The 2 and the A help us tell ITC Rennie Mackintosh apart from the similar ITC Willow, but the matter is confused by the generous supply and use of alternates.
According to a report from 2004, the logo contains a multicultural design derived from a segment of The City and Its People. This mural by renowned African-American artist Romare Bearden (1911–1988) was one of the first public art commissions made by the Civic Arts Commission in 1973, to be created and placed in the City Council Chambers as an active and accessible part of the city’s civic life.
Front cover of the City of Berkeley Police Review Commission Statistical Report 2004, showing parts of the mural The City and Its People, with the segment that was used for the logo in the lower right.
Front cover of the report City of Berkeley Fiscal Years 2018 & 2019 Proposed Capital Improvement Program,
using alternates for O, R, A.
The example sign uses ITC Rennie Mackintosh for the “Berkeley” part; Highway Gothic for “Sanctuary City” (which may be variable or absent in some signs); and something like Trade Gothic for “Ohlone Territory”.
The actual implementation of a welcome sign, photographed near the intersection of College and Alcatraz Avenues in March 2019. Secondary text is in Arial.
The logo in a routed rendition, as seen on a trash bin.
Sign of Berkeley Mental Health.
