Branding the United States – The 50 State Tourism Logos
The United States is made up of 50 different brands, so it makes sense that each is represented by a unique identity. Tourism thrives on a state’s appeal, and sometimes the state .gov sites just don’t cut it. This is where the Departments of Tourism come in. This showcase is made up of the state logos as found on the government sites responsible for making them look good.
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Southwest
West
The Full 50
All 50 state logos in one image can be found here
*Note: The logos are all from the corresponding state tourism department websites. In cases such as Washington and Wisconsin, the header image was taken and assumed the logo, as no others were present.
Some discussion pieces for the comments:
- Best/Worst Designs
- Most Fitting/Inappropriate
- What was Kansas thinking?
- Any additional thoughts, feelings, or concerns. Dreams too.
Discussion
December 29th, 2008 at 4:42 PM
None of these really seem inspired. I understand that they are trying to appeal to a whole range of people, but they are mostly lame wordmarks. Some, like South Dakota and Oklahoma look like they haven’t been updated since the early 90’s. I hope North Carolina didn’t pay anybody to do theirs…it could have been created in Word.
December 29th, 2008 at 6:14 PM
@AJ
I would tend to agree overall, identities like West Virginia especially demonstrate that some of these were created solely with Blending Options in Photoshop .
I will say that I am impressed with Georgia and Kentucky, with an honorable mention to Oregon.
December 29th, 2008 at 6:39 PM
Damn, I’m disappointed with my home state (New York) and my current home state (Nevada). Poor NY seriously needs a new design, that “I heart Whatever” is so outdated. And Nevada? C’mon, did the designers just phone that one in? In fact, it was so bland I almost missed it completely.
December 29th, 2008 at 7:46 PM
please do your research. the missouri logo is roughly three years old. just go to the visitmo.com site. it’s just a click away
December 29th, 2008 at 7:59 PM
I have always liked the Tennessee logo. The Kansas logo reminds me of Wal-Mart.
December 29th, 2008 at 8:02 PM
@Don Marcos
I went and visited the visitmo.com site and unless I’m missing something I see the same logo shown here. Was there something there that needed to be included?
December 29th, 2008 at 11:29 PM
north carolina is my favorite.
connecticut, what were they thinking? i see “connect,” yes, but i also see “i cut.”
December 30th, 2008 at 1:41 PM
These are fantastic!!! I think it would be so much fun to design state logos. You would get the chance to do all kinds of research about the state and let your creative energies go wild. What a fantastic learning opportunity. Thanks for pointing all of these out, they are great.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:47 PM
Wow, about 50% of these, if not more, are weak logos. There are some decent ones here though. Nevertheless, interesting post.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:18 AM
So glad to see that my state’s tourism is firmly stuck in the 80s. (Alabama, as though that were unclear.)
Kansas is sort of reminiscent of McCain’s logo, yes?
January 6th, 2009 at 12:18 AM
Great post.
Best: Georgia. It looks good, has great energy and gives off a nice vibe.
Worst: Louisiana.
You’ve inspired me to do the Canadian Provinces:
http://razorcreative.blogspot.com/2009/01/branding-canadian-provinces.html
I must say, after doing only 10 provinces and 3 territories, I can really appreciate the amount of work that went in to gathering and verifying 50 of ‘em! Kudos.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Again, great post Sam.
Check out the PP that Kentucky produced about their logo and brand:
http://travel2dot0.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/travel-trends-tourism-websites-logos-twitter-age/
- Troy
January 8th, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Great compilation. The mark listed for Idaho is simply our name font and is used by many state agencies. Our tourism logo is a variation which uses this font in the context of our slogan “Adventures in Living” http://www.visitidaho.org
January 9th, 2009 at 12:04 PM
@Troy
Thanks so much for the positive feedback and the feature. I was really fascinated with the Kentucky branding process, great find.
@Karen
Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll make a notation/adjustment on that, I am a fan of the logo in either variation. Great site!
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:55 PM
Minnesota is lookin’ OK… but maybe only because we’re sitting pretty when compared to neighbors Ohio and Michigan. Yuck.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:10 PM
first off – great list! – second – go michigan! looks great – thirdly – whats up with n.carolina?? can somone explain whats going on there?
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Missouri loves company.
New Mexico, cleaner than regular Mexico.
Jersey girls ‘aint trash, trash gets picked up.
Florida, stay awhile.
Wyoming, who cares?
License to IL.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 PM
Where’s DC??
January 24th, 2009 at 7:30 PM
It’s difficult to find the “least worst” of the bunch, but Illinois isn’t too bad. I’d get rid of the tacky state border graphic, though.
Great post!
January 25th, 2009 at 9:11 AM
The SW really takes the cake here. It is funny how looking at all of these logos for these different states really makes you question if you would like to visit their state or not. I now have even less desire to ever visit South Dakota nor South Carolina.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Ouch, Oklahoma really is in need of a refresh! Good post.
January 29th, 2009 at 4:37 PM
the louisiana one made me laugh, doesnt look like a place id wanna visit has a real dungey look to it.
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:02 AM
I am really loving the one for Washington. North Dakota and Mississippi are in the most need for a red in my opinion.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:54 AM
Really nice post. As others have said, some pretty weak logos here. Lots of reliance on font alone, and some of these are just odd. My personal views:
My favourites: New Hampshire, Vermont, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alaska and Hawaii.
Just missing the mark: Alabama (looks like it says ‘Sweet Alabama Home’); Georgia (looks like the logo of a 1980s PC manufacturer); Kentucky (nice idea, wrong font); Tennessee (looks like the label from a BBQ sauce bottle); California (is it drowning?)
Turkeys: most of the rest, but especially Connecticut (looks like a transit system logo); Pennsylvania (two different designs badly stuck together); Indiana and Kansas (look like logos for cheap courier firms); Ohio (that O does not belong in that logo); Colorado (what the hell does that slogan mean?); Washington (experiencewa – experience wha…?)
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 PM
I know this refers to states, but you can’t leave out Washington DC’s logo. http://www.washington.org/
April 1st, 2009 at 2:59 PM
I think a lot of them rely on text logos because they don’t want to single out one attraction over another in the state. I think some suffer from identity crisis. That and some states don’t really have attractions
The best logos, know what they are known for and capitalize! A great list nevertheless-thanks for sharing.
Calvin
Calvin H’s last blog post..12 Ways to get higher in Google
April 21st, 2009 at 1:13 PM
I’ve never seen the one for Colorado before and I’ve been living here for quite a while.
Jessica Sideways’s last blog post..5 Reasons Why We Should Legalize Pot
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