This identity system was created alongside the publication project Dear Bodie. We were tasked with rebranding the organization that would publish our book, and I decided on the California State Parks. I found that this would be a great opportunity for the parks to generate publicity and attention while also raising money for ongoing park maintenance. Required deliverables included a new logo, identity collateral, and posters.

The parks system in California is the largest in the nation and contains all kinds of wildlife spanning every kind of ecosystem. An early challenge to overcome in the development of the logo was distilling all of the unique and different qualities of the state down into a logo form that could be representative of the organization as a whole. A reduced geometric representation of the state was created because of it’s flexibility and instant recognizability. The unique coastal angle of the state creates a directional arrow that is exploited in other ways throughout the system.

Due to the sheer size of the California State Parks organization, the logo was considered in several different possible combinations depending on the formality of the situation.

The logo shape is further echoed in the parking pass hang tags and various signage that would appear around the park.

A poster series was created to advertise the book as well as the entity that would distribute it. I created an informationally-driven poster based off park locations and another series of posters driven by photography of Bodie. More information on Dear Bodie can be found here.