Mock Rebranding the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)
This Agency Provides Countless Services to Virginians, It’s About Time the DCR Gets a Makeover.
Introduction
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) manages and operates all of Virginia’s 39 State Parks, protects natural and cultural heritage, promotes water quality standards, manages the conservation of land and green spaces, supports growth in the outdoor recreation industry, and regulates almost all of the state’s 2,900 dams.
Needless to say, the DCR has a lot on their plate. With an agency that does so much for the state of Virginia and her residents, it only seems right that the DCR should look the part as well.
That is why we have given the DCR a complete brand overhaul. First things first: the logo
Logo Redesign
The current DCR logo leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, we can just say that it’s outright ugly. There are some solid design principles at play, and the logo is an attempt at being minimalistic in a way. However, the color palette is horrendous, and it needs a complete makeover.
Enter the new DCR logo. It features a simplified, minimalistic design with a focus on nature and the outdoors. Not only will this look great on websites, email headers, and social media profile pictures, but it would also translate well to shirts, hoodies, and other merch that the DRC could produce for employees and consumers alike.
Color Palette
To go along with these new logos is an entirely new color palette. We kept many of the same nature colors as before, but gave them more welcoming hues and less harsh tones.
Fonts and Typography
Next, we chose some new fonts to be used by the DCR (Hint…we used the in the logo too!). These two fonts are a mix of serif and sans-serif which makes the two mesh well together. Additionally, having a serif and sans-serif font makes it easy to choose different fonts for headers and body text when writing copy for websites, articles, and blog posts.
Customer Personas
Next, we developed five customer personas to help zero on the target market for the DCR and how they should best target their intended audience on social media. We won’t bombard you with all five, but here’s a mock customer persona named Anne who loves hiking and camping in Virginia’s State Park system.
Website Redesign
Onto the big one. We completely redesigned the DCR’s information and text heavy website to give it a modern, sleep look.
Don’t worry, we didn’t take away any of the crucial information, we just placed it under intuitive, easy to use navigation bars and drop-down menus.
Here are some before and after pictures.
Now we know this homepage is significantly simplified, and should contain some more information. Additionally, this be an outstanding splash page to enter the site.
Nonetheless, this is a step in the right direction from the overwhelming text dense homepage of the current DRC homepage. Maybe a nice happy medium between the two can be accomplished
But let’s look at some other parts of the website that needed some TLC. The about page is a good place to start.
This redesigned about page is inviting, friendly, easy to read/skim, and shows the simple and intuitive design for navigation through drop down menus.
Not to mention, this page still showcases the mission and values of the DCR and their commitment to their endeavors.
The drop-down menu also provides useful links and navigation to other pages, whereas the current site is bogged down with loads of text and links. Not to mention, this new page is much more modern and visually appealing.
We redesigned about a half dozen or so of the main pages from the DCR website, but these two are a good representation of the redesign we mocked up for the agency.
Social Media Content and Content Calendar
We drew up some mock social media posts and infographics for the DCR’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter platforms. We also created a two weeklong content calendar for scheduled precise posting times to generate the most views and interactions.
Content Calendar
Social Media Content and Infographics
here are some infographics and social media posts we created for DCR use on their social media platforms.
Blog Posts
While we designed even more content for social media than the above posts, we also authored some blog articles that the DCR can post on their website and link through emails and their social media channels.
This was our final installment of content for our hypothetical rebrand of the Department of Conservation and Recreation
The DCR is an agency that protects and conserves Virginia’s important natural resources, rich cultural history, and beautiful state parks. It seems only right that the DCR has a brand identity that fits with Virginia’s natural beauty, with content and a website to match.
Let us know what you think of our mock rebrand for the DCR. Should they adopt our ideas, or should they stick with what they have? leave a comment below with your opinion, we’d love to hear from you.
