The Covid-19 pandemic caused an upheaval in the business world. Due to a range of lockdowns, many companies had no other choice but to switch to distance working. Employees in metropolises across the world combined this freedom to work in any place with carving for nature. As a result, a lot of people relocated to suburbs and small towns. In the US, this phenomenon appeared to be especially noticeable in San Francisco, where, after three years after the healthcare crisis, the recovery rate still stays one of the lowest in the country.
In this connection, the City of San Francisco, together with different local organizations, took the initiative to support existing enterprises and attract new businesses to the city. The extensive consultations and research done by the coordinating committee resulted in a campaign under the motto “Make your future San Francisco”, including a positioning strategy and a brand ecosystem developed by the design studio DNCO.
Exactly, the visual identity of the campaign includes a new graphic sign which is intended to express the continuous progress that keeps the city vivid – a sloped line. Visually strict, this sign subtly refers to the hilly streets of San Francisco, which offer visitors more and more new landscape views.
The line, used in the San Francisco logo instead of the “A”’s, is a rather unique and recognizable element. The fact that the studio chose a sans-serif typeface points to the commercial orientation of the initiative, being a harmonious environment for the laconic sign. To emphasize the modern and vigorous character of the campaign, the color palette is made up of two bright shades. The cool Royal Blue and Greenish Cyan were chosen to represent the Make Your Future movement in digital media, while contrasting, at the same time, with the warm landscapes of Northern California.
The upward stroke is also implemented into static and animated visuals celebrating the culture of radical innovations that reins in the City by the Bay. With this, the video sequences are an integral part of the brand identity, and the SF brand’s promo video will be played at different business forums to increase the attractiveness of the city’s downtown.
Although young people have been leaving downtown for some time, the city’s authorities are committed to showing that San Francisco is still able to reinvent itself, telling the world that the future is being built inside it.
