A project focused on updating the brand's visual identity to appeal to a younger generation of travelers.
Richland Center
Tourism
Project Overview
Time Frame
4 weeks
Deliverables
Project deliverables included a complete brand guide, two sets of marketing materials (print and digital), and a presentation for stakeholders.
My Role
Product research, logo creation, brand guide, poster series, social media post series, presentation
Tools
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Canva
THE PROBLEM
Richland Center Tourism is a state run bureau that raises awareness for tourism activities in Richland County. Though this area of Wisconsin has not traditionally been known as a popular vacation destination, many people within the community have shifted their businesses and lives towards tourism in hopes to revive an ever shrinking town.
While the bureau's content is helpful to potential visitors, much of the work is lost within a poorly designed website and ill defined marketing strategy. As I delved more in to the current issues with their brand three main themes appeared.
1
Misrepresented
Richland Center Toursim uses generic imagery, none of which accurately represents the areas landscape or ecosystem.
2
Poor Design
Colors and fonts are wildly used across pages and often times make information harder to find.
3
No Unity
Richland Center Tourisms doesn't follow any consistent branding. Layout, colors, and fonts all vary from page to page.
With these problems in mind I began searching for solutions by asking myself one question...
"Who is Richland Center?"
THE SOLUTION
Richland Center is...
Having lived in Richland Center years ago I was aware of the natural beauty, friendly people, and endless outdoor activities the area had. However, I was no longer a part of this tight knit community. Because of this, I spoke with several people still living there to gain a better understanding of what best represented today's community. Through these conversations I developed a set of keywords that I centered my rebrand design off of:
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Authentic
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Historical
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Deep
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Community
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Rooted
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Natural
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Harmonius
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ALIVE!
THE BRAND
Colors
The primary colors developed for Richland Center Tourism were RC Orange, RC Navy, RC Forest, and RC Natural with tint variations. This color palette was devised to evoke feelings of harmony, depth, liveliness, and exploration. RC Orange pays homage to the long hunting tradition and colors worn by sportsman. RC Navy and RC Forest represent the depth and mystery of the natural landscape yet to be explored. RC Natural quietly ties together the color set creating a balanced harmony of light and dark. A kind and welcoming color much like the people and land it represents.
Typography
Two primary and one secondary typefaces were chosen to represent the brand. Primary typefaces include Geared Slab and Bahnschrift. A secondary typeface, Minion Pro, was chosen as an alternative font that could be used for items with lengthy text.
Logos
For this project I created both a primary and secondary logo. This was done because the primary logo was quite image heavy and would be difficult to use in instances where the logo got shrunk down. The secondary logo provides a text only option that can go on any background and be converted to B&W.
Primary Logo
Secondary Logo
Full Brand Guide
In addition to the colors, fonts, and logos I developed a full brand guide with more details regarding logo usage and additional design elements.
MARKETING MATERIALS
1
2
Digital
Printed Materials
For printed materials I designed a series of large format posters and a brochure.
Brochure
Large Format Posters
Digital Materials
In addition to the printed marketing materials I created posts for social media.
REFLECTION
The Value of Selling Your Work
Having come from a background in graphic design many parts of this project were like second nature to me. What I wasn't prepared for was having to present my work to stakeholders. A typical presentation for me is a one-on-one with clients or in a small meeting with co-workers. For this project I was asked to present to 20 plus people and only had four minutes to get through all of the work. This was certainly a challenge and forced me to cut down slides and rethink my storytelling. However, in the end, it was worth it. Through this process I gained a much better understanding of how to capture peoples attention, get them invested, and deliver concise and informative selling points.