The City Seal
A while back one of our fans suggested we’d get sued by the City for use of the City seal. (we didn’t). And that go me thinking about the seal itself. So let’s talk about it.
“Designed by artist Tom Van Sant in 1962, the figures shown in the seal are stylized depictions of the qualities important to the City of Fullerton. The orange tree refers to the City’s agricultural beginnings; the man, woman and child represent families; and the open book represents the City’s commitment to providing education and cultural opportunities to its citizens.”
It’s a real, stylized period piece, alright. Just like the building it adorns. Like it? Hate it? Don’t give a damn?
what’s the mushroom looking thing supposed to be that’s in the bottom left corner of the seal?
Also, the city was full of walnut groves not orange groves, dope! And furthermore, the city must be full of stupid ignorant fools (not edumacated folk) what other explanation could you have for electing people like: Sa, Cathead, Keller, Jones, Blankhead, Flory, McPension, Wilson, Cleseri, McClanahan, the list goes on….
So I guess this artist Tom Van Sant was either mislead into believing Fullerton was something that it’s not or he himself was a tool.
bottom left: The tree’s roots.
Curious, you hath said a mouthful.
I have never liked it, the Fullerton “people” are obviously Asian…or someone who wears robes..or maybe this was a depiction before they had their morning coffee? It does not depict the “average” Fullerton family.
The tree, is just an odd depiction. And I want to know what that “mushroom thingy” is too!
The tree’s roots, like many of Fullerton’s residents’ run deep… blah blah blah…
Yeah the seal is lame. We studied it in grade school and everyone thought it was dumb…glad to see our class wasn’t alone.
The robe thing is just bizarre. But the decision not to depict real people, but rather stylized, robed people is very telling indeed. The idea is that real taxpaying people are not to be emphasized. The idea is to celebrate abstractions.
And there you have it.
I wonder what that book is. Nothing I wrote, pretty sure of that.
I like it. The reason I moved here 20 years ago was because of the quaint vibe the city has. I grew up in LA ,so I can appreciate the small town feel. When out and about around the city,I recognise people from the nieghborhood,people feel safe walking on the streets, . I feel very fortunate to live here, and I try to be a good neighbor & citizen. I don’t see any reason to change city hall just because it looks dated.
Stayeth with the program, PD. We’re talking about the seal.
halfway through construction of city hall, the floors collapsed due to shoddy materials used to build it. The city had to rebuild the entire structure.
Actually, it was part of the light weight concrete roof. The forms for the east side collapsed during the pour due to inadequate shoring.
All you Fullerton people are dumb asses.
Both the seal and the building are mid century high modernist style. I think they’re fine, although I have to agree that the robed figures are kind of creepy too. The old seal had an orange tree or something on it. It was more appealing on first site, but certain periods seem to be filled wih a optimistic spirit that leads people to think they know so much more than their predecessors did, and that anything old should be thrown out.
I think FFFF should sponsor a contest for a new one though, just for fun.
No not high modernist. It’s pure Neo Formalism. Even the knuckleheads at Fullerton Heritage got it right: http://www.fullertonheritage.org/Resources/archstyles/formalism.htm
I think the facade looks comical. Every time I look at it I can’t help but think about Molly McClanahan. I wonder why that is.
You know what that building needs? A little brick veneer!
I call it “Missionaries on Acid”
I always thought the book was the Bible.
Back to the City Seal, design. How do we get another “contest” going to design a new one?
Thank you. Finally something practical.
Ed’s right, I was sloppy with my architectural styles. Worth noting that the old city seal featured the old city hall (now the police station). How about a picture of it for comparison? I guess the new seal was supposed to propel us in to the new frontier or something, leaving behind the Spanish Revival architecture of the past (is that what the old hall is? I didn’t look it up). So, maybe we don’t get a new seal until we get a new city hall.
City’s progress, time and styles change, re-branding might be a direction for Fullerton. Maybe even contact Tom Van Sant the original artist to submit a redesign. He’s a fantastic artist and he has changed and progressed his talents with the times as well.