Shellharbour City Council has paired with Tourism Shellharbour to launch a new logo to replace the existing shell logo, which was initiated when Shellharbour was proclaimed a city in 1996.

The new logo was created as part of a brand development exercise by Tourism Shellharbour, adopted by Shellharbour City Council in December.

Tourism Shellharbour and its consultants ran workshops for the community and business representatives to understand the defining characteristics of Shellharbour and develop a brand essence.

Key attributes, core values and personality of the area were identified in the workshops which illustrated a city that was an easy going, aspiring and optimistic place.

Mayor Marianne Saliba said the region's abundance of beautiful natural places and choice for shopping and dining experiences was part of the region's unique style.

"Even our city's name is unique and is synonymous with the ocean and beach, that often reminds people of summer holidays and relaxed moments," Cr Saliba said.

"It is the perfect time for council to instate a new logo during this renewal period of our city to include new developments and enhancement of our older areas."

The new logo is a modern interpretation of a shell design that aims to reflect the progressive and welcoming attitude of the area.

"This evolution of the logo will be more easily adaptable for promotion across different technologies as well as on more traditional print and signage mediums," Cr Saliba said.

The same font type and logo image will be used by Tourism Shellharbour, with grades of orange filtered into the image while the council will maintain a gradient of blue.

The council is initiating the gradual rollout of the logo across its assets and marketing material and funding will come from existing budgets.

The complete adaptation is expected to be finalised by mid next year.