Lowell officials and consultants unveil new city brand aiming to 'bridge' past and future

City officials on Jan. 20 heard a public presentation from Fuse Ideas on a proposed rebrand for Lowell designed to promote the city to visitors, investors and residents. The consultants described a research program that combined a 400‑person survey and about 30 stakeholder interviews to shape a platform they summarized as “Lowell, Massachusetts — where opportunity begins.”

The presentation, led by Fuse president Glenn Morgan, laid out visual concepts — a brush‑stroke typeface, a palette of blues and maroon, and a logo that incorporates wave and bridge imagery meant to reference the Merrimack and Concord rivers. “Lowell is a city I love,” Morgan said, and the team framed the logo and type choices as rooted in residents’ input rather than trends.

Manager Golden and Fuse speakers stressed the new identity is for marketing and digital outreach and does not replace or change the official city seal used on legal documents. Councilors praised the work but asked that additional stakeholders be included in final vetting. Councilor Chao recommended including a neighborhood stakeholders list to ensure perspectives — Councilor Chao suggested adding representatives from the neighborhood commonly called “Cambodian Town.”

Fuse reiterated the brand is intended for promotional use across city communications, social templates, business cards and a planned website reskin. The team said they had prepared an anthem video to illustrate the concept but experienced technical problems; staff said the video will be made available at a later meeting.

Next steps: presenters said they will continue cultural vetting with community groups and the city will coordinate follow‑up outreach; the council did not take a formal vote on adoption that night.