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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Colorado Springs has a new brand and a new logo, and people are already bashing both.

The rebranding, a project started by former city mayor Lionel Rivera, was designed with the idea to encompass visitors, residents and businesses. A task force spent months coming up with the brand and associated logo, settling on "Live It Up."

"It really kind of refers to what it means here to be alive, and really the essence of our brand is living means doing here, we are not spectators we are very active," Doug Price, Co-Chair of the Brand Task Force, said Tuesday.

However, the project cost more than $100,000, which some people think was a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Several people have started a 'Rebrand the Springs' Facebook page, voicing their complaint about what they said is an elementary logo that wasn't even designed by a Colorado Springs resident or business, but instead by a firm in Castle Rock, Colo.

"Our Convention and Visitors Bureau just spent $111,000 for a branding exercise. We don't doubt that it was valuable, but most everyone is in agreement - the logo sucks," they said on the info tab of the page. "It doesn't reflect what Colorado Springs really is, unless we're all playing little league baseball circa 1993."

The group claims to be in touch with local designers who said they can do a better job with the logo and/or tagline.

"We're here to ask the Convention and Visitors Bureau to consider allowing local designers to submit logos to replace the current one," the page states. "It's our city, and we have exceptional talent. Give local designers a shot to make it right. We deserve better."

They did make it clear they support city officials and their efforts to brand the city but want to see it come from locals.

Others haven't been so kind.

The Denver Egotist, a radical online publication, has the headline "Colorado Springs pukes it up."

An excerpt from the article reads:

"Horrible design, horrible writing and generic to the bone. A quick search of tourism slogans finds at least 7 other cities with the tag "Live it up." Apparently, this is what happens when someone in government "knows a guy" who can develop a "brand." There's gotta be a more skilled group down there that could have done this thing some justice. Instead, the city is left with one of the most hideous identities we've seen in quite a while. Damn you, government."

The article had received 45 comments as of 12:48 p.m. Thursday, many coming from Denver area residents using the opportunity to poke fun at their southern neighbors.

A recently created website, VoteCOS.com, asks a simple question: 'What do you think?' with the choices 'Live It Up' and 'Let Down.'  As of early Thursday afternoon, only 30 people had given it the thumbs up while 810 had voted it down.

We asked people on our Facebook page if they had anything better, and so far 38 people have chimed in. Click here to join the conversation and give your slogan idea.

City officials continue to stick by the brand.

"There has been a period of time that has been very difficult for our community, and I think now is the time for us to be very positive about our future, and "Live it Up" to me says it all," Bach said.