Branding
Video
Web Design
Digital Marketing
The City of Fall River
A Rallying Cry for the Dream Chasers, A Mantra for the Hard Workers.
Challenge
Fall River’s bad rap earned it a spot on a ‘50 Worst Cities to Live’ list from a popular media outlet, marring its reputation and changing the prevailing perception of the city.
Solution
We set out to discover Fall River’s true character and built a brand based on those findings; replacing the unfavorable story with a message of inspiration, hope, and abundance that more accurately depicts the city.
Result
After the Fall River rebrand was launched to an eager crowd of 300, it began to gain traction, aligning businesses and residents around the new, empowering message.
The Branding Process
The branding process began with hundreds of interviews with business owners, residents, community leaders, and other prominent Fall River figures. As the interviews with the locals went on, trends started to emerge.
Fall River residents wanted to believe in their own personal potential within the greater context of the city’s potential. They didn’t want to escape. Instead, they yearned to make it work, whatever it meant to them. The winning idea took shape from these insights, the idea of making it in Fall River, or, from the perspective of the residents, Making It Here.
Making It Here
After a handful of iteration between our branding team and the mayor’s branding committee, the final brand story surfaced. Our designers interpreted and translated this story, along with other copy assets, to find the proper look and feel that would give the message wings.
“Make It Here” is as much of an invitation as it is a proclamation. The idea pulls forward insights from periods of abundant immigration, prolific manufacturing, and rampant hope, helping us see Fall River’s potential and our place in it. Because they can make it here, whether it’s a device, a dream, a destination, or the chance at a fresh start at a new day.
The Living Pattern
After all of the foundational branding work is solidified and approved (the brand pillars, brand story, etc), we began the design process. We conducted sketch sessions where the our creative lead explained the parameters of the project and keeps everyone on track as they began to interpret the approved directions.
Once a pool of logos are generated, we began to build them out into brand systems, which retain the style and tone of the original mark but address the all of possible dynamic applications.
In Fall River’s case, the brand system is tightly packed with winks and nods to the city’s unique personality and history. For instance, the logo’s first three stitches that flow into the unbroken thread symbolize the city’s historical timeline. Fall River is known for its textile manufacturing prowess, and we wanted to honor it.
Welcome to Fall River
When it was all said and done, we felt honored to be wading in the waters of Fall River’s rising tide. The history, the culture, the people. Everything about the city has charm and depth, it feels real and raw there. We look forward to seeing Fall River take its next small steps and giant leaps as it rises back to its place of prominence in New England.
This is the title of the next case study.
This could be the excerpt for the case study. The same paragraph that appears underneath the title at the start of this page.