Expensive logo and name for "Memorial Drive East"

An Atlanta architectural firm paid by DeKalb County to develop a "brand" for Memorial Drive has proposed a stylized letter "M" and "Memorial Drive East" as the logo and slogan for a five-mile section of the roadway outside of Interstate 285. 

Houser Walker Architecture LLC, which was awarded $104,000 last year to create identity graphics and branding for the corridor, presented its conclusions during a Thursday evening online meeting organized by the DeKalb County Department of Planning & Sustainability.

After the presentation, Commissioner Steve Bradshaw acknowledged that the proposed logo and signage would not change the perception of Memorial Drive, the primary goal of a county study a few years ago.

"In and of themselves they won't," he said. "If you want me to be candid about it, a sign by itself won't do that."

The new branding proposal comes almost three years after the Board of Commissioners approved the results of an outside firm's $175,000 study, which changed land-use designations along and near Memorial Drive and is now part of the county's Unified Plan, which governs zoning decisions. 

The Memorial Drive study, completed in 2020, suggested branding that would refer to parts of the corridor as "Gateway West," "Global City," "Hambrick Village" and "Gateway East." No mention of these "brands" was made during the latest presentation.

The first major zoning decision after adoption of the Memorial Drive plan was a county commission vote in early 2021 to approve a large QT gas station, displacing a dozen small and ethnic businesses near the "Global City" intersection of Memorial Dr., Collingwood Dr. and N. Indian Creek Dr.

"The Global City concept explicitly recognizes the opportunity to enhance and express the cultural diversity of the area," branding in the original Memorial Drive study said. 

DeKalb County planners recommended the rezoning, saying the new gas station "has the potential to enhance cultural diversity." At the time, it would have been the 11th gas station in the corridor.

"It was both infuriating and heartbreaking to hear ... the words cultural diversity when discussing a gas station that is attempting to build an alcohol outlet," one resident wrote county commissioners after they voted to approve the QT, which will be located between I-285 and Rockbridge Rd. on the southern side of Memorial Dr.