washington state parks
Branding
overview
Since 1913, Washington State Parks has been committed to the preservation of public lands and creating accessible spaces for all. It is the largest protected park system in the state, yet holds a fraction of the travel and recreation market.
The current branding for Washington State Parks suffers from a visual disconnect across its array of user touchpoints, fails to adequately address accessibility, and is in need of modernization.
project specs
Timeframe: 9 weeks
Personnel: Solo
Roles / Skills: Branding, Logo Design, Advertising, Copywriting, Environmental Graphics, Motion Graphics
Tools: Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, After Effects, Procreate
challenge
The challenge for this project was to develop greater awareness of the vast resources and convenience of Washington State Parks by creating an engaging and accessible brand identity for the following audience: Young professionals and families, the weekend warrior, and active seniors.
solution
The tagline naturally yours was created to instill the concept in the minds of Washington residents that the State Park system does in fact belong to all of us.
Naturally Yours is often paired with facts about the park system such as acreage, the convenience of location, and beautifully photographed scenes of people interacting with nature. This is used most successfully in advertising, editorial design, and social media.
Combining this concept with a new logo, color palette, and greater attention paid to accessibility and modernization, creates a cohesive and memorable experience across all touchpoints between user and brand.
Logo Journey process
Traditionally, park systems across the country adopted a shield as their logo. This carried a sense of officiality and governance, but also space, often for too much type and imagery. Over time, we have learned that these types of shield or emblem logos do not scale well and have grown antiquated in our changing times and media.
These two lockups and mark still carry a sense of that traditional official seal of authority while bringing Washington State Parks into the modern digital era. The cartographic symbol for north, wayfinding and the legendary trees of Washington were the inspiration for this brand mark. There is also a subtle reference to a computer cursor to solidify the park’s future forward-thinking.
motion graphics
A short 15-second video advertisement for social media platforms that highlights the fun and accessibility of Washington State Parks. Using basic principles of animation to create a nostalgic yet modern feeling scene revealing the brand logo. Ushering the park system into the digital age and closer to its next generation of users.
View the full brand guide