Our collaboration with City of Louisville staff creates an inviting and professional new green business brand identity for their established green business program. The initial program launched un-branded in 2018 within a volunteer-run format – growing to 39 certified local businesses. For 2021, Louisville looked to formalize their green business program within a distinct identity system with public facing brand elements to display member business certifications throughout the community in recognition of their environmental commitment.

The program branding system required a reflection the established City of Louisville logo and branding without becoming an excessively corporate expression – favoring a clear, inviting, professional, and public friendly presentation for both Business-Facing and Public-Facing promotions.

Louisville, Colorado encompasses a wide breadth of businesses: small shops, restaurants, & offices within the historic downtown Main Street; large retail and commercial buildings along the arterial roadways; and large-scale commercial enterprises within Colorado Technology Center. The initial design challenge was to create a unique green business brand identity to appeal universally to such a diverse collection without favoring any specific scale or locale – clearly communicating the ideal of green business practices to the entire community.

In review of the established City of Louisville identity, the rounded corners of the logo are similar to an APP icon bordering the repeated “L” shaped into a tree leaf. I included the curved attributes and clean lines within the new green business brand design.

Features of a small downtown storefront and elements of a large business park combine within the green business program’s building icon. Highlighting the building icon within clean light green and blue lines communicates green business practices as a community priority. A tree icon completes the main program branding reflective of the repeated “L” within the City of Louisville logo.

-Megan Morgan

The new green business program identity system includes clear certification levels (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) with a clever award ribbon replacing the tree icon of the green business program brand. The public-facing identity system allows for annual recertifications within an expression of environmental importance to the economic vitality of the greater community. Internal facing B2B branding includes program branding iconography for the green business certification facets of renewable energy, waste reduction, water conservation, and alternative transportation.

Final project collaborations include a Case Study Template for internal facing B2B green business certification and a public facing business certification window decal to showcase the importance of environmental protection for each certified business. Participating Louisville businesses are encouraged to proudly display their green business program certification branding within website, printed materials, and physical entrances – matching their focus of environmental protection with the importance of our shared environment for the Colorado community.

Are you ready to certify your Louisville based business in the Louisville Green Business Program? The program has already grown to over 40 business!

Review additional Branding projects within our Strange Bird Designs portolio: Identity Systems and Logos