Houston has a new official logo. What comes next is unclear.

What you need to know:

• Houston selected a new official city logo designed by resident Claire Childs. The design features fireweed, salmon, black spruce and Mount Susitna against a sunset sky. It won both the public vote and a 5-2 vote by the City Council.
• City officials have not yet decided how or when the new logo will be implemented. It is intended to replace the city's longtime emblem on equipment, buildings and official documents. Officials are still determining costs and logistics, including replacing signage at City Hall.
• Childs said the design was inspired by her experiences growing up in Houston. She incorporated local scenery, colors and memories into the artwork and said she was "elated" that residents and council members chose her submission.

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HOUSTON – The City of Houston has a new official logo designed by a lifelong Houston resident and aspiring art teacher.

The logo was created by Claire Childs and shows fireweed, salmon, black spruce and Mount Susitna against a purple and orange sunset sky with fireworks. It was selected by the City Council from among three finalists Thursday after a public vote during Houston's 60th birthday celebration this month.

The logo replaces a long-used city emblem of a man fishing under a flying bird that was originally designed in the 1980s and did not convert well to a digital format. The contest to replace it opened in April.

City officials said they will make an official presentation to Childs during a regular council meeting next month. The finalists will also receive gift baskets, they said.

Just what happens next for the new logo after the presentation has not yet been decided, city officials said. They said they plan to swap out the previous design on city equipment, at city buildings and on official city documents, but have not yet determined how much those replacements will cost or where to order new signage, including a large logo sign on the side of City Hall. They said they plan to develop a plan by next month.

Childs said she was "elated" to learn her design was chosen. She first heard the news from a friend who sent her a text message about the vote Thursday.

"I figured that there'd be a lot of people submitting their work, and I thought there would be so many people that maybe mine would be left out. And then when I found out that it wasn't, I could not believe my eyeballs," she said in an interview Thursday evening. "I was so excited, and I was just super grateful for the opportunity."

The council voted 5-2 to select Childs' logo, with Council members Callie Courtney and Lisa Johansen voting for an alternate submission that showed a chickadee and lupine on a dark green and blue background created by Houston resident Samantha Raymond.

The identities of the individuals who submitted the logos were not disclosed to council members or the public ahead of the vote. Childs is the adult daughter of former Houston City Council member David Childs.

Of the 42 votes cast by citizens at the birthday celebration, 38 went to Childs' design, three went to a design featuring a moose and a totem pole created by David E. Becker, and one went to Raymond's chickadee. 

The three logos were selected by a City Council committee last month from an initial pool of eight submitted to the city. The other non-fanlists included several drawings submitted by children.

Childs, who grew up in Houston and plans to build a home with her fiancé on property near her parents, said her design was inspired by her daily views and experiences in Houston.

"I used the color palette that I see every day when I drive off of King Arthur. Especially at night, I'm seeing that alpenglow, seeing Sleeping Lady," she said. "Later in the afternoon when it's cooling down in the summer, and you go get ice cream, you get to see the river, you get to see the railroad, you get to see all the fireweed blooming."

Childs earned undergraduate degrees in history and graphic design from UAA and is working toward a master's degree so she can work as an art teacher in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, she said.

She focused on adding features to the logo that capture Houston's history and culture while also using her professional skills to create the scene, she said.

"I combined the different color palettes, and different views, and childhood memories that I had growing up in Houston to create something that kind of embodied all of them in a cohesive form," she said.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com