Philipsburg:--- President of the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF), Micheal Granger presented the logo that was designed by Cleon Fredrick to the Minister of Education, Youth, Sports, and Culture Silveria Jacobs. Granger told reporters on Wednesday that just two months ago the SCDF members held a discussion with the Minister regarding the branding of the St. Maarten Carnival through a logo.
The designer of the banner and logo for St. Maarten Carnival was compensated with two season passes for the next two years.
Minister Jacobs said she is honored to have been contacted and given the opportunity to share her views on the creation of the branding for the St. Maarten Carnival.
President of the SCDF, Mike Granger said the SCDF is proud to have finally been able to give St. Maarten's Carnival its own image, an identity, with which St. Maarten largest festival will be marketed and branded worldwide.
The foundation responsible for St. Maarten's Carnival has always had a corporate logo, but the festival itself has never had one. Granger explained that the SCDF is on a strategic mission to elevate St. Maarten's Carnival to new levels and it all starts with marketing and branding and increasing Carnival's profile.
The logo was designed by graphic artist Cleon Frederick and also bears a new slogan, a permanent and official one, for Carnival on St. Maarten: "Come, Experience Life". "We believe this is the perfect slogan for our Carnival. We have the best revelers, the energy level of our people is at its peak, we embrace all cultures, we simply live," Granger said.
The SCDF will no longer be changing slogans every year. "While this was nice for a while, it doesn't set our festival apart, changing slogans all the time never properly identified St. Maarten's Carnival and could not be used as a long term marketing tool. Our branding logo and the slogan will literally be everywhere."
"We wanted to send a message to one and all that St. Maarten's Carnival is the greatest in the North Eastern Caribbean and we want you to come and enjoy life," he added. Granger also disclosed that the SCDF is embarking on significant merchandising for Carnival 2013 including a Carnival Store inside of Carnival Village, the re-launching of the foundations website and other initiatives that will be announced soon.
Minister Jacobs congratulated the SCDF on the occasion, thanked the foundation for the honor of presenting it to her first and said she looks forward to continuing discussions with the foundation about the further development of Carnival in particular the cultural aspects. Granger also presented the Minister with a large laminated version of the new logo. He was joined by Frederick and Janelle Hermance of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau. Hermance is also a board member of the SCDF.
