In 2023, the destination marketing organization Visit Milwaukee was looking for a fresh new look. Their existing logo was graphically centered around their art museum, which while iconic, did not represent the whole of what their city has to offer their residents and visitors. Our team was tasked with coming up with a temporary rebrand to launch their new website with as a special campaign to eventually be replaced with their permanent rebrand to come.  After extensive research and getting to know the Milwaukee area, we built the new brand look around  the concept of 'Milwaukee fresh'. Not only is Milwaukee on what is affectionally dubbed 'the fresh coast' of Lake Michigan, but Milwaukee's personality is a blend of  a low-key cool factor, originality, and a welcoming spirit, while maintaining an unassuming and endearing air. The brand we created had to feel like it would be at home on an alternate sports jersey (Go Bucks!), on a local brewer's can design, on the tank of a Milwaukee-originated vintage Harley Davidson gas tank, and of course be versatile to work on the new Visit Milwaukee website, digital and print media, merchandise and beyond. The foundation of the campaign brand is the custom MILWAUKEE lettering that was inspired by the city's cultural history, urban diversity, and traditional architecture. One of the biggest influences and inspirations for the custom type was the graphic design work of legendary designer and architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. Milwaukee boasts a whole block of preserved Wright architecture and pulling from his architectural approach to design and lettering was a way to honor that history and connection but doing so in a modern and fresh way.

My role in this branding project was lead designer with direction and assistance from the project design team of Travis Yewell, Eva Orduño, and Lesley Shipley. Notably, Lesley brought the brand to life on the web, designing the award-winning (Gold MarCom Award, 2023) visitmilwaukee.org website.

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