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King County Arts Commission unveils new county logo on January 26, 1971.

On January 26, 1971, the King County Arts Commission unveils a new logo for King County. The new insignia is designed by Seattle graphic designer and illustrator Mits Katayama (b. 1929), who receives $1,000 for his work. The design, featuring a bold, stylized crown inside two concentric circles, replaces an earlier design that also included a crown. Katayama's design, with a slight modification, remains in use on King County vehicles, signs, letterheads, and forms for more than 35 years. In 2006, the King County Council votes to replace the crown logo with an image of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), for whom the county was officially renamed in 2005.

The use of a crown image to represent King County -- which was named (originally) not for a monarch but for Vice President-elect William Rufus DeVane King (1786-1853) -- dates back to the 1950s. In 1960, a graphic arts firm received $1,000 for a revised crown logo, which featured a six-pointed crown and the words "King County" inside a circle.

Mits Katayama

Ten years later, a bolder design was sought to make the logo visible at a greater distance and, according to some reports, to avoid confusion between county vehicles and those belonging to KING-TV. The King County Arts Commission, for which the redesign was a top priority, selected Mits Katayama to create the new insignia.

Katayama, a charter member and past president of the Society of Professional Graphic Artists (now SPGA/Seattle Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild), was a prominent Seattle graphic designer. Born in Auburn, Katayama was interned as a teenager along with his family and other Japanese Americans during World War II. After being released, he graduated from Seattle's Garfield High School and served in the Army before beginning a career as a commercial artist. Katayama designed the signage system used at Sea-Tac Airport in the 1960s. In the 1970s he developed environmental design and signage for the Woodland Park Zoo. In recent years, Katayama has become known for his children's book illustrations.

Katayama's insignia retained the concept of a crown inside a circle, but featured a much bolder, three-pronged crown, inside two thick concentric circular bands, above the words "King County." The design, for which Katayama was paid $1,000, was unveiled by the 12-member County Arts Commission on January 26, 1971. It was incorporated into new Department of Public Safety badges and used on patrol cars and other county vehicles, and on County signs, forms, and stationery. The design was slightly modified in 1984, when the band of the inner circle was made thinner.

The Crown Deposed

Over the years, various proposals were made to change the logo. In 1995, in anticipation of the January 1, 1996, merger between King County and Metro, County Councilmember Louise Miller and Executive Gary Locke (b. 1950) promoted a contest to create a new logo. Eight finalists were selected but the council was not impressed with any of the designs and no change was made.

Although the County Council had voted 10 years earlier to make Martin Luther King Jr., rather than Vice President William King, the County's namesake, none of the logos proposed in 1996 included an image of the civil rights leader. However, in 1999, Councilmember Larry Gossett (b. 1945) introduced a measure to change the crown logo to a likeness of Martin Luther King.

Gossett's proposal was resisted, in part because of an estimate that changing the logo would cost $3 million, which was later withdrawn as greatly inflated. Another stumbling block was that the 1986 Council motion redesignating the county in honor of Reverend King lacked legal effect, since only the State Legislature can officially name or rename counties. That obstacle was cleared in 2005 when the Legislature passed and Governor Christine Gregoire signed a law renaming King County in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

On February 27, 2006, the County Council voted 7-2 to replace the 35-year-old crown logo with an image of King.

Sources:
Craig Smith, "Arts Commission Unveils New King County Insignia," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 27, 1971, p. 5; "County Logo Furor," Ibid., April 20, 1996, p. A-7; Neil Modie, "Changing Logo Would Cost a King's Ransom; County Faces $3 Million Question Over Switching to Image of MLK Jr.," Ibid., September 29, 1999, p. B-4; Gregory Roberts, "King County's New Logo -- Martin Luther King Jr.; Sims is Directed to Design Symbol," Ibid., February 28, 2006, p. B-1; Roberts, "A Look At King County's Original (Ex) Namesake," Ibid., March 13, 2006, p. B-3; Debbie Cafazzo, "Childhood Memories to Draw On; An Artist Who Lived a Slice of Japanese American History Brings Warmth and Emotion to His Children's Illustrations," The News Tribune, February 6, 2006, p. D-1; Don Hannula, "Whoopee! The Logo Silly Season Is Upon Us Again," The Seattle Times, April 18, 1996 (http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/web/); "County Logo Estimate Is Cut," Ibid., March 29, 2000; "Chapter History Corner," SPGA/Seattle Chapter website accessed March 8, 2006 (http://www.seattleguild.org/News_Archive/2005519_Folder/); "From Crown to King: Council Approves Image of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as the New Official Logo of King County," Metropolitan King County Council website accessed March 13, 2006 (http://www.metrokc.gov/council/news/ 2006/0206/MLK_logo.htm).

By Kit Oldham, March 15, 2006

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King County

King County logo designed by Mits Katayama in 1971

King County logo (modification of 1971 design by Mits Katayama) used from 1984 through 2006

King County logo used between 1960 and 1971

King County logo inaugurated in 2007