The Borough of Shrewsbury

Rebranding My Hometown’s Strong Roots

The Borough of Shrewsbury, in New Jersey, my hometown, approached me years ago to rebrand the town and some signage. This soon flourished into an ongoing relationship where I’ve had the opportunity to help bring to life a new town seal, signage, and produce the town’s biannual newsletter. Shrewsbury’s previous seal featured the Christ Church, the Council Pine, and Sycamore leaves. While The Christ Church shall always remain a key landmark for our small town, we felt it was time to create a symbol that encompasses the feel of our whole town, not just one singular landmark — so was born the icon we call “The Sycamore Sunrise” Settled in 1662, the Borough of Shrewsbury has flourished and stood the test of time beneath the shade of its towering sycamore trees. Sunrise after sunrise, our town has remained, much like our sycamores. Sycamore trees are known for their resilience — their strong roots. Though strong, their roots are surprisingly shallow. Though many in our community do have deep roots in our town, you don’t have to be a part of our community long to have strong ties and strong roots here. So we chose the Sycamore leaf to represent the strength and longevity of our town and the many people who have taken root here and called it home. Within the leaf rises the sun — a symbol of hope as we continue to rise from our storied past, dawn after dawn, going into a bright future together. Highlighting my hometown and capturing her uniqueness and helping to tie our community together with my work has been a highlight of my career.