Neighbourhood Rebranding:
Sunnyside

2022

Project

Systems and Structures Course Work

Skills

Design Research, User Research, Photo Ethnography, Brainstorming, Ideation, Document Design, Visual Design, Animation Design

Tools

Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Animate, Google Sites, Slides, Mural

Role

Researcher, Animation Designer, Co-Visual Designer

The goal for this project was to develop a visual identity system for the Calgary neighbourhood of Sunnyside that would effectively result in a place-branding solution that captured the distinctive feeling and spirit of the area. Upon conducting thorough observational, ethnographic, and desk research, myself and information designer Boram Kim developed a detailed visual identity system with accompanying visual style guidelines for Sunnyside that are demonstrated in a brand application.

Development

While developing the primary logo, we began with some iterative pencil sketches to draft designs for a couple of early concepts centred around the personality characteristics we observed through our research of the Sunnyside neighbourhood. We then shared our design iterations on Mural and began to develop digital designs around the best iterations, while bringing in possible colour palettes and icons that would best communicate Sunnyside's personality and visually illustrate the brand tagline -"Quirkiness Around Every Corner".

Ultimately, this resulted in the development of a wordmark with an unstructured typeface and flipped letters, framed by corner shaped icons that embodied the spirit of the tagline. To increase the versatility of the visual identity system, we developed a shortened version of the wordmark to serve as a secondary logo that can be used on smaller branding materials.

Final Concept

The visual identity system consists of two logos-the primary wordmark and a smaller secondary logo. The primary wordmark with accompanying tagline should only be used to represent the community on large signage or promotional materials where the tagline is large enough for readability. For smaller signage, digital applications, and community documents, the primary wordmark can be displayed without the tagline or the secondary logo can be utilized.

Brand Tagline: "Quirkiness Around Every Corner"

The tagline "Quirkiness around every corner" embodies the quirky, vibrant, and open nature of the Sunnyside community. When walking through the neighbourhood of Sunnyside, you immediately notice the vibrant colour and unconventional artistic expression by the residents around every corner: these consistently atypical art installations and painted murals are sprinkled throughout the community. However, what is quirky is more than just the art style but its locations; on homes, garage doors, shipping containers, hanging from trees, or even on cars. The art is available for anyone to enjoy through casual visits or community-hosted tours.