Everyone has a different reason to rebrand. Your services can change, your target audiences opinions can shift, or the mission behind your company can undergo and overhaul. In Colorado’s case, our state is looking to refresh their image with the Making Colorado project.
Making Colorado wants to provide the state with a unified brand that can be used on letterhead, state vehicles, websites, and other collateral. We definitely salute the idea behind the rebranding – a lot of our imagery and stationary is a bit outdated, and a fresh look on everything will help our state be seen as something other than the home of South Park.
The project hired a series of Coloradan designers, hailing from either Denver or Boulder. (Our question: where are the designers from the rest of the state?) Their efforts, combined with community input, will help decide what our state’s logo and slogan will be. You can head over right now to check out the options and voice an opinion, and even submit your idea of what makes up Colorado’s brand identity.
Option One: Evan Hecox
This logo reminds us of the Colorado license plates. While it’s iconic, we think it’s just a little too whimsical. The road sign shape makes us think that Colorado is all about road construction – and anyone whose driven down Broadway in the middle of summer really doesn’t want that part of our state brought to their attention. We also didn’t like the extreme focus on the mountains, especially considering the recent political conflicts with southern half of the state. Colorado means more than the roads and intersections that we drive through, or the mountains that surround us, and our logo should show that.
We actually like this concept’s mock logo for the Department of Transportation more than the logo itself. It includes our flag in it, an iconic image that we don’t want to drop. Still, both of these logo options look a bit too much like icons for the App store to sit well with us.
Option Two: Todd Berger
We like the fact that this logo is based around the first two letters of our state. It’s simple and doesn’t remind us of road signs, app icons, or anything else. We could easily see this printed on a Driver’s License, or on a state employee’s uniform.
That said, the colors don’t sit well with us. Where did the green and orange come from? Our colors are red, yellow, and blue; as they are now, this logo’s colors won’t compliment the existing brand.
Option Three: Justin Fuller
This logo has a really strong concept behind it. The rectangle includes all parts of our state, not just the mountains, and the simple design means it will mesh well with other brand elements. Still, the implementation really leaves something to be desired. The rectangle is just a bit too big; if they toned that down a little, the logo would be a bit easier on the eyes.
Slogans
The two proposed slogans are “Rise” and “Ever Upward“. We don’t honestly love either of these, but if we had to pick one, “Ever Upward” would be our choice. It brings attention to the constant growth and development in our lovely state.
Once again, though, these slogans forget all about the non-mountain regions of Colorado. With the right logo, they could work, but we’d prefer something that unites the state as a whole.
Our Suggestions
Our favorite so far is option #2, by Todd Berger. Why not take that solid CO, and give it the right colors for our state? This logo would mesh with our flag, while updating our state’s identity to something a little more modern.
It’s just a suggestion, but it’s the direction we’d like to see this re-branding process head down.
What do you think? Do any of the logo options show promise in your eyes? Leave us a comment here, or head on over to the Making Colorado page to send your thoughts directly to the people in charge.
I like your design the most!
The Evan Hecox design is nice. But you nailed it with your own design.