Forests Commission Logo.

The iconic Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) “two-tree” logo was designed in the early 1960s by graphic artist, Alan Rawady.

The modern logo replaced the circular emblem with myrtle beech fronds that had been in service for many decades.

Alan had the grand title of Artist and Display Designer and was part of the three-person Publicity Branch with Alan Watts as the manager and George Self as the photographer. They were situated on the third floor of 453-455 Latrobe Street. The building is gone now.

In 1961, Morris Carver who was Assistant Secretary to the FCV at the time, commissioned Alan to “design a logo to make them gasp in wonder and amazement’. The Chairman, Alf Laurence, personally approved the final design in 1964/65.

There were three colour versions of black-white, brown-gold and greenish. They came in various sized adhesive stickers, reflective ones on a magnetic backing to attach to car doors, as well as sew-on badges. The new brand also adorned FCV stationery and offices.

The standard colours for the mission-brown logo were Pantone Matching System – BROWN-PMS 168 and GOLD-PMS 137.

The logo was to become the cornerstone of corporate graphics when the Commission created the Forest Environment and Recreation (FEAR) Branch in 1971.

The simple and bold design remained in use until the mid-1980s when it was replaced by a circular and very non-descript logo during the Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL) era.

But staff never really warmed to the new CFL logo, which some said looked more like a “sheep’s bum”. It seemed that ex-Fisheries and Wildlife staff fondly clung to their iconic platypus badge, and ex-National Parks Rangers to their hopping kangaroo, while the “two-tree” logo was cherished by ex-FCV employees.

Alan Rawady recalls that the material used to screen print the sticker at that time was probably a Fasson or a Jacpaper product sourced from Europe. The material was (then) high quality white mylar which had an aggressive sticky back and was virtually indestructible. The screen-printing was done by Buckle Bros. in Lennox Street Richmond, and ink was nearly toxic and smelled abominable.

There are still a couple of stickers around the bush, but not many… A relic was recently discovered at Blackwood, still completely identifiable after 40 years, even if a little battle scarred.

Collectors’ items for sure…