Branding for the Borough of Madison, NJ
Branding for the Borough of Madison, NJ
Client: The Borough of Madison, NJ
Scope: Brand Development, Brand Identity, Style Guide, Logo Mark and Variations, Identity System, Internal and Presentation Materials
I had the opportunity to partner with the Borough of Madison, and V dot V Marketing on a branding effort for all borough applications and communications. The process took one year, and involved working with a town committee with members from various branches.
The branding project included establishing the brand values, mission and voice, and designing the main Borough of Madison mark and sub marks, and official town seal. The mark will be gradually phased in to town branded collateral including wayfinding, informational and welcome signage, departmental sub-marks such as for police department and public works, marketing campaigns to attract new businesses and residents, downtown development initiatives, borough vehicles, badges or patches, letterhead and business cards, and more.
The Madison Story
Madison, NJ is known as the “Rose City” - for it’s history of being a prominent rose-growing industry which flourished up until the 1950’s. A consistent brand for Madison was among the recommendations made in a study on redeveloping the downtown area, and the branding project took into consideration feedback from residents, particularly to keep the rose as part of Madison’s identity. The Hartley Dodge Memorial municipal building, whose bell tower is featured in the new logo, is as an example of Madison’s philanthropic history. The 1935 town hall building was donated by heiress Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge. The logo elements convey the rich history, passion of the town’s residents, and philanthropic heart of Madison NJ.
A branding visual style guide was created for proper implementation of the new brand identity into materials and applications.
Branding for the Madison Downtown Development Commission
Client: The DDC of the Borough of Madison, NJ
Scope: Brand Development, Style Guide, Logo Mark and Variations
The Borough of Madison hired Pfeifer Design to develop their new branding identity, that gave them a contemporary, versatile brand mark for multiple town-wide applications. The Madison Downtown Development Commission (DDC), a very active commission under the Madison governing body, needed a new brand mark that would be recognizable as part of the Madison brand house, while also emphasizing their unique role to support Madison’s business district.
The DDC serves to support Madison’s business district and bring people to downtown Madison. In addition, their mission is to brand and promote downtown Madison so that everyone who lives, works or visits has an enjoyable and memorable experience.
Challenge 1: How to unify all the DDC initiatives under a Branded look, and make it clear that they are all sponsored by DDC (or a DDC collaboration) while still promoting the overall Madison Brand for strong association and recognition within and outside our community.
Solution 1: Create a brand mark to be used by the Commission as a whole, to represent them as an entity within the Madison Borough governing body. The DDC Logo lives in the Madison brand “house” but is differentiated as a commission, from the primary Madison logo, and the Department logos.
Challenge 2: The DDC’s old logo wasn’t pulling its weight for these new purposes, and was causing confusion with the new Madison town branding. And specifically, they wanted to promote an initiative to shop and support local businesses and events in Madison and wanted a unique, recognizable, appealing identity when doing so.
Solution 2: A sub “Marketing version” brand mark (with two variations for versatility, but both with the same branded look) to be used when the DDC is specifically promoting Madison’s business district and wants to emphasize and make clear that an event is supporting and drawing attention to the Downtown business district and the “support local” initiative.
Examples of use:
to brand a banner promoting Support Local, in the downtown area.
Round logo variation can be used on merchandise or promotional items. Can be used by businesses or townspeople as a way to show their support of Local Businesses.
as a masthead for the Madison Marketplace Newsletter and I Love Madison NJ Social Media
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