The English Lake District
Brand identity for England's largest national park.
Duration
Spring 2024
Activities
Brand Identity Design
Course
Design Synthesis
Professor
Doug Scott
Background
The English Lake District is a National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in North England. Its natural beauty, world-famous hiking trails, and rich cultural heritage make it a popular destination year-round.
For this project, I was challenged to design a systematic, functional, memorable brand identity for the park, aiming to support, promote, and underline all it has to offer.
1
The Problem
The Lake District National Park's existing identity fails to reflect and convey all the region has to offer.
The identity isn’t terrible, but where it really falls short is in application. Understanding the Park’s natural and cultural beauty, I knew the identity could be improved across the board: in the logo, print, and online.
2
The Process
I began by listing keywords relevant to the Lake District before leveraging those to create many logo sketches. I sought to communicate the landscape, wildlife, and cultural and archeological landmarks graphically and explored various wordmark ideas. I refined those and eventually narrowed in on one direction.
3
The Solution
The identity and applications I developed feature the landscape’s characteristic geography and highlight the region's natural beauty and rich cultural history.
The logo builds off the existing mark, featuring a mountainous vista behind a lake. The scene has been abstracted and refined, using smooth curves that draw the eye in. Rather than the existing circle, the holding shape has been modified to a shield reminiscent of English heraldry. The stroke weight has been carefully balanced and locked up with the typography.
The identity features Klim Type Foundry’s Signifier, a modern response to 17th-century serifs, Founders Grotesk, an equally charismatic sans, and Founders Grotesk Mono, its more technical companion.
Together, they create a system that reflects the region’s literary history with a contemporary twist, appealing to traditionalists and modern mountaineers alike.
“The fleeting hour of life of those who love the hills is quickly spent, but the hills are eternal. Always there will be the lonely ridge, the dancing beck, the silent forest; always there will be the exhilaration of the summits. These are for the seeking, and those who seek and find while there is still time will be blessed both in mind and body.”
Alan Wainwright
Photography plays an important role in the identity (why not show off a beautiful landscape?), along with poetic copy which alludes to the work of greats like William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter, who helped popularize the region.
As a part of the project, I also designed a 48-page guide booklet, and a series of promotional materials. The booklet provides an overview of the park, fun facts, and recommendations for things to do and attractions to visit.
