EXPECT a lot of razzmatazz and applause from the business community next Monday when the new logo encapsulating the identity of York as a great city is launched.

Up to 500 of York's key tourism businesses will board a York Boat keen to see unveiled what has so far been kept an unassailable secret by York Tourism Bureau and the First Stop York tourism partnership.

It's a secret still. But what are the clues? Well, apart from knowing that this logo was chosen as the best to capture both the excitement of the city's 2,000 year history and its modern, forward-looking spirit, we at least know what the selectors didn't want.

Kay Hyde, public relations manager for York Tourism Bureau said: "Hull-based Sowden Watson Design came up with the winner but hundreds of ideas were rejected.

"Our standards, based on in-depth research which showed that we needed to excite a whole new generation of visitors, were brutally exacting.

"We needed a vision of York as a vibrant and lively city as well as beautiful and historic, but many submissions had too many primary colours which would not necessarily have translated into black and white if needed. We also wanted to steer away from the use of hackneyed medieval script

"Some of the logos presented were gimmicky, some childish, some far too complicated. What we needed was a very simple but effective design with a call to action."

There will be a special press preview of the new logo at York Races on Sunday, September 2, when a group of key travel writers have been invited to attend.

Local society hat designer Catharine Cobb has been commissioned to design four exclusive hats to represent the new logo and these will be modelled by the travel writers themselves.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau said: "We need to be braver and re-position York in a more adventurous way. The branding process has not just been about choosing a new logo: It is also about investigating every aspect of our marketing activity.

"The results from the branding will impact on the brochures that we produce, the adjectives we use to describe the city and the pride that we feel about ourselves."