Emerald City Transit

Branding
Information Design

Emerald City Transit is a vibrant celebration of Seattle’s community on the move. It’s a fresh take on the city’s current subway brand design blending visual appeal with functionality to craft a new unified brand identity and user-friendly transit tabloid map. This project aims to express the many wonderful places to explore in the Emerald City and hopes to place more emphasis on the often-overlooked beauty of public transportation.

With the goal of achieving beautiful aesthetic and functionality in mind, the design journey began with a deep dive into Seattle’s appeal and modernist traditions. Two pivotal themes emerged from this research exploration. First, the breathtaking nature surrounding Seattle and the wildlife that calls the Pacific Northwest home. The Orca whale, synonymous with community and collaboration, became the guiding force for the Emerald City Transit logo. Its community bonds and graceful motion through the water perfectly encapsulate the essence of seamless travel and the spirit of this Seattle based transit system.

Second, tremendous inspiration was drawn from the modernist philosophy, notably Massimo Vignelli’s iconic New York subway map redesign, in which he created a timeless and universal visual language that was minimal, yet powerful. The development of the logo embraced these minimal design principles, utilizing bold geometric shapes and a Bauhaus-inspired typeface selection. It posed the greatest challenge in this project, aiming to integrate the letters “e”, “c”, and “t”, along with the shape of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle, into the form of the Orca whale. Through numerous drafts and phases of development, this goal was ultimately met with success.

Drawing from the logo’s elements and maintaining a commitment to modern design principles, a cohesive brand identity was created. This extends to the tabloid map, point of interest icons, and promotional advertisements, ensuring harmony among all components. These efforts led to the completed Emerald City Transit project and ultimately met the goal of striking balance between aesthetics and functionality.