ABOUT

The Challenge
The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department (EDD) has designed and successfully implemented innovative programs that set a benchmark standard for other metropolitan economic development offices across the United States. These programs are diverse in scope, reaching every corner of Austin’s population, and have contributed significantly to Austin’s growing recognition as a local economy that defines intelligent growth and modern economic prosperity.

Historically, the volume and diversity of EDD programs has often made it difficult for Austin’s Communities, Businesses, and People to understand the Department’s overall mission, the value that each division creates for different constituencies, and the common purpose that binds the EDD’s initiatives together.

The Solution
To address this challenge, Thinktiv helped the EDD undertake a strategic branding initiative that expanded the impact of EDD communication efforts and maximize constituent participation in EDD programs. This initiative was comprised of two major components:

• A ‘best-practices’ messaging architecture that set the standard for how the EDD communicates key value propositions to the various constituencies the Department serves, across a diverse array of communication channels
• A modern, inspiring visual brand system that communicates EDD’s impact in an emotionally resonant fashion, and creates clear visual connections between the overarching EDD department, its subsidiary divisions, and the diverse programs that those divisions deliver to constituents.

About the Logomark:
The new Economic Development Department’s logomark concept originated from the very architecture of the Austin City Hall building, itself. This unique multi-faceted building, was designed by Antoine Predock in association with Cotera, Kolar, Negrete & Reed. In using the architecture as a visual reference point, we explore the many unique planes and facets of the EDD and its various divisions who serve and promote the community of Austin—individuals, businesses, and organizations, alike. The goal was to unify as much as diversify. In doing so, we allow the building to be a metaphor for the building blocks of growth and prosperity within the city and the greater Austin region.