Tourism logos can be difficult to get right. They brand not a company or organisation but a physical place where people live and work. They have to evoke wanderlust and communicate the distinct appeal of (hopefully) myriad attractions to potential visitors while avoiding overly generic symbolism, and ideally not upsetting residents.
The Visit Arizona logo crams in a bounty of detail with its many icons, while the Dubai logo sacrifices easy readability for a multilingual approach. The first dedicated Vermont Tourism logo goes a different route, with a clear, welcoming wordmark that looks simple but takes inspiration from the state's natural and cultural attractions – and no, it isn't Comic Sans!
Created with the agency DNCO , the new Vermont Tourism branding comprises a complete system with a typeface, a suite of icons and a script-like logo design.
Research found that people already had a lot of love for the state but that this wasn't reflected in trip intention. As a result, the branding aims to present concrete reasons to visit. That's summed up with the tagline 'State of Inspiration’ – apparently, Vermont has the highest density of artists and writers in the US. It was also doing farm-to-table before it became a trend.
Over on Reddit, some people aren't too sure about the new logo design. It looks like "Comic Sans but if you had to pay a graphic designer," one person thinks. Others fear that the downward line of the M gives negative vibes.
"I’d have liked to have seen the M reversed, since that’s how camel’s hump is seen from the west (i.e., by most people), and also it’d be an upward trendline instead of downward," someone writes.
But the logotype, crafted with the lettering artist Rob Clarke, was actually inspired by Vermont’s tradition of hand-lettered signs on roadsides, farm stands and storefronts. It also draws on natural landmarks. The ‘e’ is a meandering road, the ‘m’ represents the state's famous hills and the ‘o’ is the moon beyond (this reminds me of the recent Legal Amazon logo design derived from satellite imagery).
Before you argue that you can see roads and the moon in any state, the reference is to the Horn of the Moon Road, a scenic and winding road in East Montpelier, named after a historical farming settlement dating back to the 19th century.
The design of the letters is also a nod to the state government's logo design (below), but with a much friendlier vibe.
The logo doesn't exist in isolation. It's important to consider it alongside the wider system.
A single typeface in varying weights was chosen to convey a wide emotional range, while the colour palette was built around hues inspired by Vermont’s famed six seasons (as well as spring to winter, there's mud season and stick season). With deep greens, reds and oranges, the colours are intended to change through the year alongside the state's landscape.
The photography and graphic design also highlights the state's natural landscapes, as well as the activities that can be enjoyed there, like skating on all-natural ice rinks. “Farm to table. We just call it dinner,” one piece states.
DNCO also brought in local artist Alyssa McCabe to create a library of brand icons inspired by typographic decorations appearing in Vermont's literature. These include Champ, a monster said to live Lake Champlain, as a nod to the state's folklore, as well as drawings of birds, cows barns, leaves and pies.
"As we moved through the state, the symbols on the state seal, the road signage system and the typographic ornaments in books by Vermont writers all pointed to the same idea: icons were emerging as a consistent visual language," DNCO says.
Does the resulting system inspire you to consider a journey to the Green Mountain State? Place your vote below.
For more inspiration, check out the handy maps showing the fonts used in tourism logos around the world.
