It’s typical to think about corporate identity in the context of business, but we don’t often consider the corporate identity of cities. Not every city has one; larger cities tend to. But  if the only necessary factor is people who care about developing the collective identity, what’s to stop even the tiniest village from having a visual identity?

Notably good example: Melbourne, Australia. Notably poor example: London, UK.

Geography means a lot to me, so I was very excited when our Media Design class voted on doing this project. We could pick any city we wanted. Why did I choose Indianapolis? In the interest of authenticity, I only wanted to do a city that I have lived in. That narrowed it down to eight… but really, I feel a growing fondness and respect for Indianapolis. As I glance through the Indy Star day after day, I start to hear the personality of the city. I was interested in exploring and conveying the gifts that God has put in her.

In case you didn’t know, the Indianapolis Children’s Museum is the largest children’s museum in the world, Indianapolis is known as the Crossroads of America, the Amateur Sports Capital of the World, it hosts the Final Four, The Indy 500, the Internation Violin Competition, several colleges and universities.

Indianapolis is committed to the arts and education. It feels safe, accessible, and easy to navigate. Its government has been financially responsible. Indianapolis is ready to be even more of a crossroads with the new airport. They have recently built a new library and convention center. In the words of the mayor, “a big city that gets the ordinary things right can be an extraordinary place to live.”

Most importantly to me, Indianapolis is my parents’ hometown, and it is the city in which I have taken major steps of independence and begun my adult life. It has been a wonderful place to live.

My logo design for Indianapolis speaks about its crossroads identity and suggests the layout of its interstate roads. Its inherent balance reflects stability. Arrows of contrasting colors represent diversity and the ever upcoming new generation. The tagline I wrote to accompany the logo combines a crossroads and nurturing idea: “come and grow.”

We had to create a number of pieces to demonstrate usage of the new brand.

Indianapolis has designated 6 historic and cultural districts in the city. These are their current logos:
They are quite expressive. In the interest of brand consistency, however, I propose the following.
Just for fun, here are the old and new IMA logos. This art museum is pretty exceptional in that it is completely free and has extensive grounds with gardens!
The Indianapolis website is already very well organized, so I just gave it a facelift. You can click on each screenshot to see an enlarged version.

And of course, everyone hired by the city needs stationery.

If you have any interest in this visual campaign for Indianapolis, I have put all of these pieces into a cool little booklet. Maybe later, I’ll photograph the interior. This is the cover.

Thank you Indianapolis, for being my home away from home. I respect your stability, nurture, and exchange with the Midwest, the nation, and the nations of the world. It is with great fondness that I design for you.