Consultants recommend 'Midtown at Cherry Hill' brand for Cherry Hill Village; board hears questions about name and design

Consultants from the firm 'a 5' presented a branding process and recommended the name "Midtown at Cherry Hill" to give Cherry Hill Village a district identity while retaining the familiar local name.

"Midtown rose to the top," said John Herrick, describing the outcome of community interviews and naming tests. Ben Shulman, director of civic strategies at a 5, summarized the engagement: "We did 10 one‑on‑one interviews, including municipal employees, cultural commissioners, resident activists, and small business owners." Fletcher Martin, the creative director, walked trustees through a visual identity centered on a flexible logo mark designed for signs and banners.

Trustees voiced a mix of support and questions. Trustee Summer praised the design's color and type choices and asked whether the palette had been checked for color‑blind accessibility; Fletcher Martin said the team would "put this through the paces" and provide a scientific answer after next steps. Trustee Kate asked whether the new "Midtown" label might feel derivative given other communities with that name and worried about how it would sit beside existing signs that read "Uptown Apartments." Staff and consultants said keeping "Cherry Hill" in the proposed name preserves place recognition while signaling a refreshed district identity.

The presentation closed with staff noting next steps for rollout and implementation. No formal action to adopt the brand was recorded during the meeting; the consultants' recommendation was presented for the board's consideration.