Recently, and quite by accident, I came across a brilliant initiative that was started by Stockport-based Aqua Design Group. The project came about after the owner, Dylan Moore, identified that there was no way for local artists, artisans and makers to demonstrate that their products were made in the town. So he developed a ‘Made in Stockport’ logo using the iconic Stockport Viaduct as the main element of the design - a logo which is now used by numerous businesses in the town. You can read the full story on his 2018 blog post here.
Fast forward to 2023 and as you will see from that article, there are now many different #MadeIn logos for different towns, cities and regions around the UK - but when I first became aware of them, I discovered there was no #MadeInMiltonKeynes logo.
As a local photographer who loves Milton Keynes, I could immediate see how something like this could be beneficial for many different types of creative and craft-based businesses in MK - in fact any business that ‘makes’ something in the city. Not only that, but also a great opportunity to promote Milton Keynes makers to a wider audience.
With this in mind I contacted Dylan and together we developed a new variant of the #MadeIn logo for Milton Keynes. I chose the Light Pyramid in Campbell Park as I believe it’s a very iconic and recognisable symbol in MK, and was simple enough to translate into the required graphic. I also then suggested adding the smaller details left and right, to acknowledge the roundabouts that our city is still so ‘famous’ for!
The digital version of the logo is available for anyone to use free of charge, so if you would like a set of JPEG and PNG files, please contact Dylan on info@aquadesigngroup.co.uk. He also sells a variety of #MadeIn products and stickers at very reasonable prices, which may also be useful, depending on what type of business you have.
I don’t produce many physical items myself, as most of what I do is digital, but I will definitely add the logo when I do - and I’ll be using the digital version to help promote Milton Keynes as well. If you think it’s a good idea, it would be great if others in the MK business community could do the same 😊