What's up with that?

Is it a fountain? A geyser? Palm fronds? The answer might be right in front of you if you're strolling through the new North Boulevard Town Square downtown. The curling shape fanning out from the center of Town Square's logo mirrors an ornamental motif repeated along the more than 150-year-old fence surrounding the Old State Capitol next door. Now it also adorns the multi-media tower in the square and the square's promotional materials.

The design team at Covalent Logic was handed the task of creating the identity, or logo, for the new square, and they first explored the neighborhood around the site of the square back in 2009. They centered in on the leaf-like emblem that juts out between rails at the bottom of the old Capitol building's iconic cast-iron fence.

“We wanted it to be a modern interpretation with a nod to the past,” says Jenny Kornuta of Covalent, which has crafted identities for other clients, like the Louisiana Recovery Authority. “The DDD gravitated toward this shape because it lent itself to many interpretations—water, organic growth, fireworks, light. It felt celebratory in nature, which represented the space well, since so many festivals and community events are held there now.”

With all the ornamental elements on the fence, including eagles, stars and even axes, there was a lot of inspiration to choose from. The leaf-like motif seems to be one of the more mysterious. An essay from the Old State Capitol's files indicates the elaborate design—the work of craftsmen in Baton Rouge and Prairieville in 1855—is a palmette, a decorative motif dating back to Ancient Egypt.

But Jan Sumrall, business manager at the Old State Capitol, says the design has been the subject of debate. Some think it's a pinecone, pineapple or magnolia seedpod. “I don't think the question was ever fully resolved,” she says.

Like the Town Square logo, it's still open to interpretation.

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