Washington State Ferries Rebrand

CHALLENGE

This project had a number of distinctive challenges attached to it. First, the current Washington State Ferries brand feels dated and lacks visibility. It clearly could use a refresh, more cohesion and a more modern touch. Second, the distinctive nature of the ferry service, being both a necessity for reliable and timely transit across the Sound, as well as a popular tourist destination- made establishing a cohesive tone difficult. The ferry system embodies things to many different types of riders.

Another consideration was the fact that the ridership is in a state of flux: in our research, we found that leisure/tourist ridership recently overtook the commuter ridership in annual volume. This, paired with the  changes in the region's population, income, and economic prosperity had strong implications for how to structure the rebranding. We recognized that the rebrand would have to universally appeal to all of its riders while setting the stage for a future with a much higher volume of tourist traffic. It needed to be visible, eye catching, attractive and relevant.  In the end, the challenge was to refresh and modernize, take the fluctuating ridership into consideration and preserve the ferries important reputation as safe, reliable, and an enjoyable service. We set out to give the ferries a facelift while letting it still wear all of its hats and staying true to itself.

GOAL

To preserve the quintessential feel of the Washington State Ferries while modernizing and refreshing the brand.

SOLUTION

The new Washington State Ferries brand is all that we hoped for. It is bold and iconic, modern and attractive and memorable. We invented an innovative, new three-tiered advertising technique to draw in new riders and to improve their experience so it is more informative. We added a few features that allow riders to better plan their trips and to make the experience of riding the ferries clearer and easier to envision. Our brand book has clear instructions for implementing the refreshed brand and the result is a clean, modern, cohesive Washington State Ferries brand.

PROCESS

Xio and I gave ourselves three weeks to crack the logo. We struggled in those three weeks to craft a logo and color pallet that encapsulated everything the ferries represent for all their riders: a stable, safe, reliable, memorable, special, scenic, practical, and unique experience. This was the greatest challenge of the entire project, and we were glad we had given ourselves the full three weeks because we cracked it the day before our deadline. The rest of the project flowed much better. We created a handful of new features such as a new advertising strategy that uses well placed ads to attract new riders. We designed a new interactive map kiosk to inform riders of the network of routes and also to highlight the distinctive destinations that the ferry can connect them with. Once the core design (in particular that tricky logo) was established the rest felt fun, innovative, and exciting to design.

Brandmark

The Washington State Ferries brandmark is a direct expression of our brand identity. It is the visual representation of Washington State Ferries core values. It is organic, it evokes feelings of forward motion, fluidity and transit. It is at the same time solid, reliable and recognizable. In its simplicity it is timeless and adaptable.  

While the shape of the trademark pays subtle homage to Northwest Native American totem art, it’s horizontal symmetry is reminiscient of the meeting of mountains and water. Finally, the tapering of the graphic element gives a feeling of depth and alludes to the wake of a ship.

Proper Usage

The Washington State Ferry brandmark should always have a boundary of clear space to ensure visibility and impact. No graphic elements should invade the clear space zone. 

1. The wordmark with tagline should observe clear space that equals the width of the first graphic element. The full lockup with tagline has a minimum height of 1 inch.

2.  The wordmark with tagline should observe clear space that equals the width of the first graphic element. The full lockup has a minimum size of 3/4 inches in height.

3. The lettermark observes clear space that equals the width of the first graphic element. The minimum size should be no less than 1 cm in height.

4. The wordmark without the pictoral mark should be used only when the pictoral mark is used as a larger graphic element. The clear space should equal the “W” from the wordmark on its side for the top and bottom, and upright for the left and right side. The minimum size is a height of 1 inch.

Typography & Color

Typography:

Barlow is a slightly-rounded grotesk typeface used often for transit and directional signage. This font family is scalable, accessible, and shares stylistic characteristics with the brand graphics. Lato is a sleek san-serif font family that is meant to accommodate a broad audience. It is scalable and translates into over 50 languages.

Headlines and subheads should be used in the brand color Nautical Navy. For optimal legibility, body text should be in black.

Color:

The brand color pallet pulls directly from the Puget Sound. Northwest Navy is a stately color and has an official maritime look. Pacific Teal alludes to the clear blue skies of the Northwest. Buoy Yellow is a warm highlight that embodies energy and safety. Survival Suit Orange similarly has a look of maritime safety, complements the cooler tones in the pallet, and offers a fresh and modern feel to the brand.

Graphics

The graphic element may be used in full saturation with any of the four colors from our pallet. The primary use,  pictured below, uses Northwest Navy and Pacific Teal, and should be limited to that combination. The use of a knock-out may be used only with black and white photography (see rules for photography treatment) and with the bottom half of the trademark in full opacity with one of the four colors from the pallet. Trademark may be used as a graphic overlay on photography or photography treated as it is below.

Photography

Our use of black and white imagery is intended to represent the timelessness of the Washington State Ferries and the fact that the experience represents something different to every person. Additionally the expressive landscapes of the Puget Sound, while beautiful, can distract from the representation of the brand. Photography should therefore receive consistent treatment of medium contrast, high resolution, zero saturation. Photography should only be used in conjunction with brand graphic elements and text. 

Figurative photography should be candid and intimate, expressing the joyful, curious, reflective, calm, and excited emotions the ferry experience is meant to evoke. Figures should be photographed waist up and should occupy no less than 70% of the height of the frame. 

Scenic Photography is an opportunity to showcase both the iconic sights of the Puget Sound as well as the experience of riding the ferry. Perspective for scenic shots is to be eye level, deep depth of field. Avoid shallow depth of field with blurry background or foreground.

Brand In Action

Our brand incorporates the feedback we received from the public. We aimed for a fresher, more modern and recognizable look. Our color pallet and graphic elements are a clear movement in a more modern and dynamic direction, while maintaining Washington State Ferries core values of safety, reliability and scenic beauty. Our trademark is both timeless and simple, easily scaled and recognized, as well as achieving a fresh aesthetic.

Vessel Graphics

The vessel graphics allow the brand expression to shine. The Washington State Ferries vessels should be distingushable from other ships in the Puget Sound, encouraging ridership and brand recognition. The graphic elements, brandmark, and color should be showcased on the vessel’s exterior.

Tickets

The ferry tickets should show clear instructions for proper use when scanning the tickets at the turnstiles prior to loading the vessel to avoid confusion and congestion upon loading.

Wayfinding

As a mass transit system that connects riders to destinations all across the Puget Sound, wayfinding is arguably the most important part of our brand system. It should be easy to follow while maintaining our brand aesthetic. There are three main categories of our wayfinding system: Regulatory, Directional, and Orientational. Each of these has different rules for treatment.

Regulatory 

Regulatory signs like no smoking and pet rules should be high-contrast using white and Nautical Navy. AD compliant iconography along with the WSF custom icon set (see page 25) can be utilized.

Directional 

Directional signs that navigate riders within the WSF terminals and vessels can be treated more expressively with photography and color. The icons should be white. Maintain high contrast for optimal legibility.

Orientational 

Our orientation wayfinding gives clear indication of arrival at terminals. In certain busy urban areas (in particular the Seattle Terminal) this is an important feature for alerting travelers that they have arrived at their destination of Washington State Ferries.

In addition to being in schedules and as a large graphic in terminals, the map also lives as an interactive feature in major terminals. A touch screen interface allows riders to select routes (pictured left) and the destinations selected appear to the right. The interactive map feature offers information about the destinations with history, facts, and travel tips & suggestions as well as a button that shows the schedule for that route.

Advertising

We have a three-tiered advertising strategy to attract new riders. Ads tactically placed in hubs of travel such as the airport and the light rail use photography which shows the impressive scenery of the Puget Sound as well as the distinctive destinations which can be accessed by ferry. These ads are intended to attract the visitors who are either unaware of the Washington State Ferry experience or those who have not decided to take the ferries.

Small print and digital ads offer opportunities for expression through short-time advertising campaigns. Memories in the Making and Great Stories in Your Wake are  examples of how tone of voice should be used in the Washington State Ferries market strategy.