One of my goals as

One of my goals as a designer is to rebrand a city someday.

So I figured, why not start with a fun self-initiated project for the place where I grew up?

After the City of Piqua's previous rebrand attempt received a pretty rough response, I started thinking about what I would do differently. I wanted to explore an identity that felt connected to Piqua's history, but still gave the city room to move forward.

The result was a conceptual civic identity built around place, pride and progress. From the water tower and city badge to employee IDs, digital applications and a new message: Forward Starts Here.

This was never an official city project. Just a designer asking, "What would I do?"

Turns out those are usually my favorite projects to make.

Maybe one day I'll get the opportunity to help shape the identity of a city for real. Until then, I'll keep designing toward it.