Last year, Hilliard Recreation and Parks came to us for help launching a new park in its historic downtown. They needed to create awareness among residents that the park was open and drive attendance for a full schedule of summer events. Together, we set the stage for a successful inaugural season and many more to come.
Doing our Homework
First, we set out to develop a fun, playful look and feel for the new park. We built on our research and discovery from the City of Hilliard's broader brand audit in 2013 that established a message platform, brand expression and tagline.
We completed additional discovery with Rec and Parks to understand the types of activities that would take place at the park including music and arts performances, fitness classes and movie screenings. All of the park's events are family-friendly, but certain offerings like food truck Thursdays and free yoga classes on Saturdays are primarily for adults, which impacted the design process and outcome.
Our team visited the park site and historic surrounding area to photograph the architecture and iconography around Old Hilliard. We also reviewed the primary resources for promoting the park and events, including lamp post banners, event posters, email broadcasts and other resources.
Solving the Problem
This project was the perfect opportunity to extend the city's primary brand expression. On the visual side, our discovery fueled the design of a special logo for the park, as well as the introduction of secondary colors and a new script typeface that channeled the youthful nature of the park and its programming. Much like the city logo, the park's logo borrowed icons and type used on the ironwork in Old Hilliard.
We also expanded the city's tagline ("Real People. Real Possibilities.") to include new concept applications that related directly to the park and its events.
After establishing the visual identify, we applied it to the design of street post banners, posters, print ads and other collateral. Nearly 200 banners line the streets surrounding the park and, this year, Rec and Parks is looking to add additional banners throughout the city.
On the digital side, we updated the park's location on Google Maps to reflect a more accurate address and enhanced the listing with photos. Our team also designed Snapchat community geofilters for the new park that could be used throughout the winter.
Together with a video production crew, we created multiple promotional videos for social media and YouTube featuring the summer activities at the park. We coordinated appearances by local food trucks, a nearby yoga studio and dozens of volunteers. Part of a recruitment video for The Ohio State University's Kappa Delta sorority was also filmed at the park.
Getting Results
Since January of 2016, the photos of the park on Google Maps have been viewed more than 63,000 times.
Together, the promo videos garnered more than 46,000 views. On Facebook, they were shared more than 550 times and received more than 1000 likes and nearly 100 comments.
As far as event attendance is concerned, demand was so high last year that Hilliard Rec and Parks decided to expand the park's schedule of events for 2017. We couldn't have been happier with the outcome of this project. Assignments like these are a perfect example of why we love what we do.
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