Outside Chicago
Web Design & Campaign Design | 2023-2024
The Chicagoland region is home to over 350 miles of trails, dozens of parks and beachfronts, and one of the largest forest preserve systems in the country. Despite this, most visitors (and natives) think only of the Loop’s gleaming skyscrapers.
Working hand-in-hand with five separate CVBs and city leadership, I worked with my team to create a brand for this new website: Outside Chicago. After working to create the initial brand, I was tasked with expanding the chosen brand concept into a website and social campaign. The results of the initiative have been fantastic: a 45% engagement rate with over 100,000 sessions in the first year. Plus, features on regional news outlets and accolades from city and county governments.
Let’s get outside!
Primary logo lockup
The first ask was to take the newly-established brand and create a net-new website — outsidechicago.com Working with a copywriter, I created wireframes and initial mockups for client approval before expanding those mockups. Partnering with our dev team, moving into full website production, the website includes:
A customized, illustrated map on the home page
Specific activity summary pages
Listing pages for dozens of parks, trails, farms, and other outside activities
Setups for blog “guides” for current and upcoming promotions
Unused brand concepts
As part of our initial brand work, I presented two logo concepts alongside concepts from a colleague. Though neither of my designs were chosen, I wanted to showcase the work as a celebration of what could have been.
Concept 1
Primary logo lockup
Alt logo lockup featuring an embedded tagline
My favorite part of brand exploration is color names. In this case, the names from from plants and flowers native to the Chicagoland area.
Concept 2
Primary logo lockup
Alt logo lockup featuring an embedded tagline
The four elements of Outside Chicago: air, sun, nature, and Lake Michigan
