Iconic San Diego attraction Belmont Park, known for its historic wooden Giant Dipper rollercoaster, has unveiled a new brand positioning and identity that pays homage to its heritage and the vibrant culture of San Diego. Radiating the warmth of the sunshine state and its free-spirited sense of adventure, the new identity inspires an infectious playfulness that highlights Belmont Park as a place that everyone can come to enjoy.
Ahead of its 100-year anniversary in 2025, Belmont Park appointed belief-led brand innovation company BLVR to help provide a clear and consistent direction for its future, differentiating it from other amusement parks on the West Coast and nationally. The new solution leverages the attraction’s rich history but for today’s audiences, zoning in on its local charm to celebrate everything that’s unique and extraordinary about San Diego.
This week, we spoke to Austin Lane, Executive Creative Director at BLVR, to get to lowdown on this exciting brand revival.
Austin Lane
What was the brief for the rebrand?
Belmont Park was looking for an agency that could help unify all the different elements of the site under one vision, to bring clarity to the consumer and make it a place that both tourists and locals wanted to visit.
For many years, the park has become an iconic destination, known mainly for its amusement park. But a lot of the other things it has to offer was being overlooked. From its beachside restaurants like Cannonball and Draft, to its entertainment venue Beach House and The Plunge - Southern California’s largest swimming pool - there’s so much more to this unique beachfront destination.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
The scope of the project was to develop clear, updated branding for Belmont Park. This manifested in a best-in-class brand book, new marketing collateral, imagery, and captivating content. We presented suggestions to unify the various experiences within the Belmont Park umbrella too, alongside building out the customer journey and creating consistent messaging and creative direction.
But beyond that, we saw an even bigger opportunity. How do we make Belmont Park iconic again? For this, we knew everything needed to be centered around a belief that was shared between the Belmont Park brand and the people that it serves.
Our goal was to build a brand that stands for more, that truly knows its customers, becomes a catalyst for the community, and ultimately elevate the brand experience through every touchpoint.
Describe the purpose of the brand and its target audience.
Belmont Park is San Diego’s “everything destination”, the perfect mix of excitement and leisure with shopping, top-notch restaurants, and thrilling rides right on the beach. From vacationers who want to bask in San Diego culture, to locals who want to play like kids again, Belmont Park is centred on the firm belief that San Diego’s culture is unique, extraordinary and deserves to be shared.
What was your thinking behind the rebranding solution?
This is one place in the city that combines the best of it all: the gateway to San Diego. It was important for us to celebrate the uniqueness of the park, its beachfront location, experiences built for everyone, and a legacy rooted in classic beach nostalgia. Allowing all of this to inform the visual and verbal communication, we wanted to create something that felt familiar yet fresh.
Did you learn anything new during the project?
Yeah… a simple reminder that rollercoasters always make you smile, scream and laugh.
What was the biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?
Tackling a client with such a rich history. Exciting, for sure, but always a challenge, especially because they are in our backyard. We wanted to pay homage to the destination, the city, and everyone that goes to Belmont from past to present. This created some pressure, but a good type of pressure - the type that fuels the creative process, collaboration, and the results. The team leaned on each other to push through roadblocks and we never settled. We ignored the noise and focused on doing cool shit.
What details are you most proud of and why?
The whole identity system puts a smile on my face. There’s some beautiful craft in the wordmark complemented by a solid icon. The tone is fresh and approachable, with lines that speak to a large audience. Our color palette is fresh and derived from the coastal landscape. The photo library really shows the vibrance and energy of the park and everything it has to offer.
What visual influences fuelled your solution?
It’s a wordmark you’d see in a 70’s surf shop but with a modern flair, alongside an icon that felt hardworking and fun and copywriting that’s classic and conversational. We dug into Belmont Park’s photo archives for early inspiration, and we really leaned into the San Diego landscape and beats of culture to influence color, typography, patterns, and overall tone.
What do you hope it achieves for Belmont Park?
For the team at Belmont Park, I hope they now have a brand they can build upon for generations to come. I hope that this is a platform that allows for increased engagement with the crowds of San Diego and beyond. For anyone that visits the park, I hope that the new identity can be worn as a badge of honour.
What would you do differently if you could do it over again?
Post up at the park even more. Experiment with design while on a ride to see where it could take the work.
Credit list for the work?
Creatives: Drew Sutterfield, Damin Sterling, Hunter Normand, Katie Murphy
Photographer: Chris Straley
Strategists: Alex Blair, Cara Rodgers
Client Services: Julia Thomas, Alec Hanmer
Project Management: Caiti Franscell
