Logos have been making headlines lately, which makes it as good of a time as any to revisit the journey that gave Round Rock its signature brush-stroke star. For the City, building a recognizable and lasting brand has been an iterative process over the decades, rooted in its history as a community shaped by growth and economic opportunity.
In the years before 2002, the City relied on a traditional seal that was difficult to reproduce and lacked the distinctiveness needed for modern communications. At the same time, Round Rock was experiencing explosive growth following the arrival of Dell Technologies, and leaders from the City and Chamber of Commerce were working together to position the community for continued success. The push for a new brand didn’t come from a desire to update the City’s look—it came from a need to strengthen Round Rock’s position during a time of explosive growth as a place for business investment, job creation and long-term prosperity.
During a comprehensive economic development study with Angelou Economics, Round Rock gained a clearer picture of its strengths and future direction. The research identified “success” as the word that best captured the community’s character and momentum. Building on that foundation, the City and Chamber convened a committee and hired Warren Creative, which included strategist Chris Aarons (now a professor at The University of Texas at Austin), to translate the findings into a brand.
The first result was a tagline: “Purpose. Passion. Prosperity.” “Purpose” represented Round Rock’s long-term vision and commitment to strategic planning, “passion” reflected the City’s entrepreneurial approach, and “prosperity” emphasized economic growth and job creation.
With a tagline in place, the creative team then developed the logo. Through feedback and refinement, the final design emerged: three bold brush strokes in red and two shades of blue, each representing one word from the tagline. Together, they formed a dynamic Lone Star—firmly Texan, yet distinctly Round Rock. “The star harkens back to the history and heritage of Round Rock and the strokes are the bold force going forward,” Warren Creative CEO Charlotte Warren said in a Round Rock Leader interview from May 2002.
As the City prepared to launch a new website more than a decade later in 2014, the logo came back under review. The challenges were practical: the font was dated and the logo had too many elements to allow for resizing for various layouts. A refresh addressed those needs while keeping the brush-stroke star that had become widely recognized and trusted. Around the same time, the City’s 2014 Community Survey showed residents were overwhelmingly positive toward Round Rock—91% satisfied with the overall quality of life and 93% satisfied with City services—underscoring the strong reputation already associated with the logo.
The Communications and Marketing Department worked to launch a revised logo in-house that ultimately dropped the tagline, but the three brush strokes still remain as symbols of the three alliterative elements that led Round Rock through a period of astronomical growth.
According to retired Director of Communications and Marketing Will Hampton, this approach preserved the most valuable elements: a logo that is instantly recognizable to residents and businesses, while serving as a visual representation of the City’s success throughout the decades.
“To me, the mark has held up surprisingly well for something that’s 20-plus years old,” Hampton said. “It’s so rock solid right now… There is so much equity built into it.”
While the tagline has faded from everyday use, the brush strokes—originally tied to purpose, passion and prosperity—continue to anchor the City’s logo. The mark has endured, and, more than twenty years later, Round Rock’s brush-stroke star still represents the city’s identity, values and success.
