US City Branding
The chosen city for this project was Tacoma, Washington. The final design utilizes various elements to draw the eyes of the adult audience it is geared towards; it is simply dark blue, a light burnt orange, coming from the city’s night skyline, with white to balance. This maintains vibrancy and intrigue in the unconventional use of contrasting complementary colors. The logo plays with the figure and ground, which in turn uses the Gestalt Principle, Similarity. The brand guidelines, and stationery follow suit, the latter adding an additional touch of familiarity with the Tacoma landmark, the old Union Station building.
Brand Guidelines
A seagull, Mount Rainer, a wave and seaweed. Representing the view, location, and feel of the City of Tacoma.
Logo
Beginning Sketches
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Glyph Literal - Symbols Abstract
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Glyph Literal - Symbols Abstract
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Glyph Literal
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Glyph Literal - Symbols Abstract
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Glyph Literal - Symbols Abstract
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Glyph Literal - Chosen Design
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Glyph Literal
Business Cards
Envelope
The outside of the envelope focused on simplicity, utilizing the logo colors on the lip, and the logo itself in the city name while ensuring a clean look. The “catchphrase” of “Mountain, City, Sea” adding a light touch of detail. In contrast, the interior of the envelope also includes the colors, however in greater array, drawing in the viewer not only with it’s vibrance, but also with the carefully traced drawing of the city’s familiar and historical landmark; the Union Station train station.
Letterhead
Keeping with the simplistic nature of it’s companions, the letterhead relies on the familiar stripes of blue and orange, along with the black and white city logo. An actual government letter available to the public was used in the body copy.
The Brochure…
The outside of the brochure was heavily inspired by popular motifs found in other Pacific Northwest Brochures, along with the night view of the city. The map was kept simplistic yet is still functional, and the information given for contacting was created with differently abled people in mind, along with those who might not have access to things like a phone that is able to read QR codes.
In the same breath, the inside of the brochure was made to be simple to read, and easy to understand, while using a creative and captivating grid, and images. The icons of the variously featured landmarks and locations was made to create clear and easily recognizable features for each location, as a full image of each would end up being harder to notice details of, and would have been far too crowded on the page and in their row.