City of DeKalb

Advertisements / Branding / Brochures

Project Goal

The goal of this project was to create a branding system for the city of DeKalb, Illinois that would give its promotional materials a more unified look and feel. The brand attributes, as defined by the city, are welcoming, family-oriented, peculiar/diverse, innovative, and philanthropic.

Below are two magazine advertisements. The full-page ad appeals to potential business owners and the half-page ad promotes the downtown area. Both utilize vibrant colors, playful illustrations, and a friendly brand voice to convey the three main brand attributes: welcoming, family-oriented, and diverse.

Downtown Brochure

This tri-fold brochure contains a listing of restaurants, shops, and services in downtown DeKalb. A description of each business is also provided to inform visitors about the area.

Student Directed Fliers

Below is a series of flyers directed towards Northern Illinois University students. These flyers remind them that downtown DeKalb has a lot to offer, from live music to authentic ethnic food to theatre performances. The best part? They are all “just a walk away in downtown DeKalb,” because of the NIU campus’s close proximity to the downtown area.

Downtown Wayfinding

The secondary goal of this project was to design a wayfinding system for downtown DeKalb that would reflect the new brand standards and make it easy for users to find their way around the area. The locations on the directional signs below are sorted by category, then by direction, and finally by alphabetical order to make it easy for users to access the information.

Brand Manual

A new brand manual was also created for the city. It includes information regarding the brand colors, typography, illustrations, and the brand voice. The new branding solution expresses DeKalb’s positive characteristics with the intention of attracting more residents, business owners, and visitors to the area. The only starting point for the project was the city’s existing logo.

Mock Ups

The mockups of the brand manual were designed by freepik.com. https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/book-mockup_1014956.htm.