Cleveland EDC unanimously recommends new ‘All Paths Lead Home’ brand, sends colors to City Council

The City of Cleveland Economic Development Corporation voted unanimously on March 13 to recommend a new city brand and color palette to the Cleveland City Council for final approval.

The recommendation locks in the tagline All Paths Lead Home and a primary color palette of Pineywoods green, Leather and Warm White, a branding package the EDC says is intended to raise Cleveland’s regional profile for economic development and outdoor tourism while preserving a small-town identity.

Emilio Livario, Cleveland’s community development director, told the EDC the city-funded branding work grew out of a competitive request for proposals and multimonth stakeholder engagement. Livario said staff selected Destination by Design to lead the project and formed a community rebranding committee that used surveys, roundtables and a site visit to help shape the strategy. “We felt like my directive and kind of intent with this whole process was to hold the mayor up to the community and let the community tell us how they wanna be perceived,” Livario said.

Matt, a consultant with Destination by Design, described the brand as balancing “hometown” character with Cleveland’s outdoor access to the Piney Woods, Sam Houston National Forest and regional trails. “All paths lead home embodies Cleveland, Texas’s welcoming spirit, natural beauty, and Texas pride,” Matt said during the presentation. He explained the logo mark includes a star and tree elements intended to reference the city’s history and location near forested recreation areas.

The EDC presentation included visual options, secondary marks for merchandise and a plan to deliver logo files and brand guidelines (formats such as JPEG, PNG and SVG, plus Pantone and color specifications). Livario reported that a committee survey produced seven responses, six of which favored the Pineywoods/Leather/Warm White palette. Based on that committee input, staff recommended the green-and-leather palette.

Vice President Brent McWaters, who is also a Cleveland city council member, moved that the EDC send the proposed brand and the committee-approved color palette to city council for final approval. Mike Buckley seconded the motion. The EDC chair called for a vote; the motion passed unanimously (8–0 among members present). The EDC recorded the action as a motion to forward the design and adoption of the approved colors (Pineywoods, Leather, Warm White) to City Council for final approval.

Emilio Livario and the consultant said the consultant will attend the City Council meeting to present the branding package if the council requests it. Livario also noted that the EDC and city plan a coordinated rollout and that the project deliverables include brand guidelines and implementation assets for signage, stationery, web and merchandise.

The meeting also included a brief director’s report from Livario announcing a TxDOT notice of eligibility for a Transportation Alternatives grant application for sidewalks and a joint job fair with the Chamber and Workforce Solutions for Liberty County scheduled for March 27. The EDC went into executive session later in the meeting under provisions of the Texas Government Code and reported no action was taken on those items when it returned to open session.

Next steps: the EDC will forward its recommendation to Cleveland City Council; council action will determine final adoption and any schedule for a public brand launch.