SR-092507-1C~~r
City of - City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: September 25, 2007
Agenda Item:_~
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Barbara Stinchfield, Director of Community & Cultural Services
Subject: Award of Professional Services Agreement to AdamsMorioka, Inc. for
Graphic Design Services for the Annenberg Community Beach Club at
Santa Monica State Beach
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a professional services agreement with AdamsMorioka, Inc. for comprehensive
graphic. design services to support the opening and operation of the Annenberg
Community Beach Club at Santa Monica State Beach in the amount of $150,000, with
an option to extend the Scope of Services in FY 08/09 in an amount not to exceed an
additional $100,000.
Executive Summary
The Annenberg Community Beach Club at Santa Monica State Beach is scheduled to
open in January 2009. Construction is currently on schedule, and City staff is preparing
an operations plan to ensure that the facility, once open, will achieve the highest levels
of community use as well as generate needed operating revenues through permitting of
special events. A key component of this planning is the development of innovative
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strategies for community education and outreach, special event marketing, and
interpretative/cultural programming.
As with other successful community-serving facilities opened by the City with great
success in recent years, presenting a consistent look and message through site
signage, interactive media, printed materials and innovative interpretative materials will
contribute significantly to the public's perception and recognition of the place.
AdamsMorioka, Inc. is recommended based on their understanding of the unique
aspects of this public project, a high degree of creativity and innovation, and experience
working with projects that desire a unique identity within a larger organizational
structure. Funds in the amount of $125,000 in City Beach Funds were budgeted in FY
2007/08 for this purpose and an additional $100,000 was included in the approved FY
2008/09 City Budget Plan.
Discussion
The identity of a place is more than just a graphic representation; it is the personification
of that place, its products, and services, and can serve as the guiding philosophy for
promoting the site. Such an identity is desired at the Annenberg Community Beach
Club at Santa Monica State Beach to use as the basis for the development of site
signage that successfully welcomes and guides the site's visitors, interpretive materials
and exhibits that capture the special history of the site, and community outreach and
marketing materials that are inviting, informative and able to convey the necessary
information through both printed and electronic media. The special challenge for the
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Annenberg Beach Club is to develop a site identity that reflects the unique
characteristics of the site but also incorporates the graphic identities of the City of Santa
Monica and California State Parks. A comparable situation existed when developing
the Santa Monica Swim Center, which is a City facility and located at Santa Monica
State College where a successful and coordinated graphic program was developed and
implemented.
The initial graphic identity development will include a process that involves key
stakeholder groups, such as staff, historians, user groups and thorough review of the
State Parks and City of Santa Monica graphic identity requirements. The initial phase
will include the development of a minimum of three identity templates and the selected
identity will then be refined and expanded for application to signage, uniforms,
marketing material, merchandise, website and interpretive exhibits. AdamsMorioka, Inc.
will shepherd the development and implementation of the identity from concept through
fabrication installation.
At the City's option, the contract would be extended into fiscal year 2008-09. Service
needs anticipated at that time include additional website development, design and
printing of collateral materials, design and fabrication of interpretive materials and
special exhibits and design of other promotional material.
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Contractor/Consultant Selection
In June 2007, an RFQ was distributed nationally to 27 firms with expertise in graphic
design. Sixteen teams submitted qualifications for this project, which were carefully
reviewed by a selection committee consisting of staff from the Community and Cultural
Services and Environmental and Public Works Management Departments, a
representative from the Annenberg Foundation, and a representative from Fred Fisher
Partners, the project architects. Based on this review, four finalists were interviewed in
August 2007.
The selection committee unanimously recommends that AdamsMorioka, Inc. be
awarded this project based on the overall quality and comprehensive nature of the firm's
expertise, experience on projects of similar size and scope, and the firm's clear
understanding of the project. The key personnel on this project have worked with
numerous stakeholder groups to develop innovative and successful graphic identities
and a full range of applications for facilities throughout the country, including the
California Institute of the Arts, University of Southern California, RedCat Theater,
Tempe Center for the Arts, and Sundance Companies. In addition, they bring to the
project a clear understanding of the specific issues involved in developing a graphic
identity that relates to the existing logos of the City of Santa Monica and California State
Parks.
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Budpet/Financial Impact
$125,000 from the City's Beach Fund was appropriated in the FY 2007/08 Budget for
Annenberg Community Beach Club marketing. Additional funds have been identified in
a capital account as noted below. Total funds for the recommended graphic
development services are available in the following accounts:
11522.55010 $125,000
0010673.589000 25 000
$750,000
Additional support from the Beach Fund in the amount of $100,000 has also been
included in the Approved City Budget Plan to fund the option to extend the Scope of
Services in account 11522.55010.
Prepared by: Callie Hurd, Manager, Open Space Division
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
~G~C.c~-La-
Barbara Stinchfield vP//L' ont EN
.Director, Community &Cultural Services G~k Manager
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Reference Contract
No. 8824 (CCS)