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Branding, Identity, Website Design & Development

Downtown Action Plan

Team
Nicole Chalmers: Designer
Ross Nover: Art Director
Erin Lisette: Project Manager

The Downtown Action Plan is a “5-year economic development strategy” built off of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s DC Comeback plan, run by DowntownDC BID, Golden Triangle BID, and the Office of the Mayor. We were approached by the folks at Friendly Design Co. to act as the designer on this project under the art direction  of Ross Nover.

A green arrow outlining the Downtown Action Plan logo which sits in the center of the block.

Reimagining the Future of Downtown Through Visual Identity

The goal of Downtown Action Plan (DAP)’s branding was to show forward movement into the future of Downtown. To accomplish this, we pulled inspiration from wayfinding colors and symbols that you would find throughout the DC metro. Thick, sharp lines intertwine with design elements to mimic a map of the city. The geometric patterns, modern typefaces, and bright colors combined show how this initiative will usher in a bright future for Downtown DC.

A series of icons representing different initiatives placed inside of floating circles in a pattern. the circles are white and are floating above a green background.
A series of logo variations for Downtown Action Plan. The top row shows the primary logo, the bottom row shows four badges
An outline of a black arrow on top of a green background pointing to the right side of the page
A green arrow on a black background decoratively filling opposite corners of the block
A depcition of the Downtown Action Plan glyph, which is of the outline of the District of Columbia with an arrow pointing upwards at the end of the outline, being shown on top of the color palette chosen for this project (green, blue, yellow, red, white, and black).

The Report

In order to get the information about this initiative out to the public, we needed to create a report. Four versions of this report were created, the first being a presentation that was so successful, it was reported as part of the reason that the Capitol Arena decided to stay in DC which prompted the BIDs to tell our team “You’ve helped save Downtown”, which is the highest praise I could hope to receive on a project. The final versions of the report were a physical printed report, a digital PDF, and a website version of the report.

A mockup of the report created for the Downton Action Plan. Pages are shown with text, maps, graphs, and the cover.
A mockup of the Downtown Action Plan website. The left shows a fully designed page. the right shows the matching wireframe.
An image depicting mockups of the Downtown Action Plan website. The left showing the wireframe of the page, the right showing a fully designed page.
An illustrated map showcasing Downtown West in the District of Columbia.
DowntownDC BID president and chief executive Gerren Price discusses the downtown plan. (Image Copyright Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

DowntownDC BID president and chief executive Gerren Price discusses the downtown plan. (Image Copyright Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Process

As we established DAP’s branding, we presented three directions for them to choose between.

Three images showing the start of he downtown Action Plan logo, with wayfinding arrows, bold imagery, and an arrow pattern.
An unused logo option for the Downtown Action Plan. The logo is labeled "Reimagine DC", and to the left of the text is a colorful star burst. The two other images show poster mockups and how the logo could be used with various initiatives.
An illustrative unused option for the Downtown Action Plan. The logo is made to look like a construction site, and showcases triangles and squares as building blocks. The last two images show poster mockups, and the logo on a solid white background.
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