Maritime Washington National Heritage Area Branding & Website
Client: Washington Trust for Historic Preservation
My role: Logo finalizing, brand development, graphic design, map design, wireframing, UX design, web design, video editing
Awards: dotCOMM Awards Honorable Mention 2023 (Website)
In 2019, Congress officially designated 3,000 miles of Washington’s saltwater coast the Maritime Washington National Heritage Area. With a goal of celebrating and protecting the land, history, industry, and people who live and work there, an extensive branding group was formed that included representatives from Tribes, counties, cities, ports, museums, education centers, heritage structures, and working waterfronts.
What started as a collaborative logo development process between myself and a colleague changed course when they left the company, handing me the reigns to take their preliminary logo design across the finish line and evolve it into the Maritime Washington brand. I finished the logo, designed the tagline graphic, developed all visual elements, laid out the brand guide, and created templated collateral to prepare the brand for launch.
The website for the brand-new organization needed to be primarily a vessel for stories. My wireframes emphasized user pathways to the blog, news, itineraries and Maritime Mapper pages, while my front-end design employed solid brand elements, landscape photography and playful nods to water to underscore the mission. A homepage hero video I stitched together using drone footage captures the diverse beauty of the shoreline: some areas restless and rugged, others meditative and calm, all boasting rich heritage and culture.
The website can be viewed here. Please note that the client has ownership of the site and changes may have been made.
