Huron County Library | Brand Development
A complete visual identity refresh for the Huron County Library system — twelve branches, each with its own character, all needing to feel unmistakably part of one organization.
At the heart of the new identity is a logo built around a word bubble — a deliberate move away from traditional book-and-shelf imagery as modern libraries have become community hubs and connection points as much as lending services, and the mark needed to say so.
The real design challenge ran in two directions at once: the palette had to differentiate twelve individual branches from each other, while still fitting cleanly within the County of Huron's broader corporate brand. Too much distinction, and the library system stops feeling like part of the County. Too little, and each branch loses its own identity. The result is a colour-coded system that does double duty as both brand and organizational framework — each branch carries its own colour across signage, digital assets, and print materials, so a resident can tell which library a piece belongs to at a glance, while everything still reads as unmistakably Huron County Library, nested within the County's own identity.
The system was built to be genuinely usable by a small team: templates and standards that scale across twelve branches without needing a designer to facilitate every piece of communication.
Brand Elements
Results
A complete visual identity refresh for the Huron County Library system — twelve branches, each with its own character, all needing to feel unmistakably part of one organization.
At the heart of the new identity is a logo built around a word bubble — a deliberate move away from traditional book-and-shelf imagery as modern libraries have become community hubs and connection points as much as lending services, and the mark needed to say so.
The real design challenge ran in two directions at once: the palette had to differentiate twelve individual branches from each other, while still fitting cleanly within the County of Huron's broader corporate brand. Too much distinction, and the library system stops feeling like part of the County. Too little, and each branch loses its own identity. The result is a colour-coded system that does double duty as both brand and organizational framework — each branch carries its own colour across signage, digital assets, and print materials, so a resident can tell which library a piece belongs to at a glance, while everything still reads as unmistakably Huron County Library, nested within the County's own identity.
The system was built to be genuinely usable by a small team: templates and standards that scale across twelve branches without needing a designer to facilitate every piece of communication.
Brand Elements
- Developed a new primary logo and full visual identity system for the Huron County Library that aligned with other County of Huron brands including the Huron County Museum and Ontario's West Coast.
- Created a distinct colour-coded palette for each of the system's twelve branches, applied consistently across all touchpoints.
- Built brand standards and templates to guide consistent application across signage, digital assets, print materials, and seasonal campaigns.
- Designed a suite of ongoing marketing materials, including print and digital assets, infographics and motion graphics, fleet graphics, wayfinding signage, and design templates for staff use.
Results
- Recognized with a 2023 Hermes Creative Awards Honourable Mention.
- Adopted system-wide across every branch and touchpoint, from permanent signage to day-to-day promotional materials.
- Gave a twelve-branch system a shared visual language that's both easy to apply and immediately recognizable to the community it serves.
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