Visit California

PROJECT: BRAND REFRESH (CASE STUDY)

SERVICES: LOGO & VISUAL IDENTITY

INDUSTRY: TRAVEL & TOURISM

BASED IN: SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

(01) INTRO

Visit California is a 501(c)6 nonprofit corporation formed in 1998 to market California as a desirable tourism destination. Visit California is the Golden State’s official travel and tourism board with a mission to develop and maintain global marketing programs, in partnership with the state's travel industry, that keep California top of mind as the ultimate travel destination.

(02) THE OPPORTUNITY

California is not a single story. It is coastline and desert, city and forest, road trip and resort, local culture and global iconography. The opportunity was to evolve the Visit California identity into a more contemporary system that could hold that diversity more effectively, while preserving the familiarity and optimism already associated with the brand.

(03) CREATIVE STRATEGY

The strategy centered on creating a cleaner and more adaptable brand language, one capable of expressing California’s regional variety through a stronger overarching system. Rather than relying on decorative legacy elements, the refresh focused on building a more disciplined identity, using color, form, and structure to communicate warmth, movement, and the breadth of the California experience.

(04) LOGO DEVELOPMENT

The logo development focused on simplification. By removing older star and wave elements from the existing mark, the refreshed logo becomes cleaner, more legible, and more versatile across applications. The new form still feels connected to the parent brand, but it does so with less visual noise and greater confidence. It is a move away from dated embellishment and toward a more contemporary expression of the brand.

(05) LOGO SYSTEM

The refreshed logo was designed to operate as part of a broader system, not as an isolated symbol. That meant creating a core mark strong enough to anchor multiple applications, from statewide brand communications to sub-identities and event-specific assets. The system needed to feel cohesive at every scale, allowing the primary logo to hold the brand together while making room for California’s many distinct expressions.

(06) VISUAL IDENTITY

The wider identity expands the brand through a more dynamic use of color, shape, and supporting assets. Sunset-inspired hues bring warmth and distinctiveness to the palette, while graphic forms introduce a clearer sense of motion and place. Together, these elements give Visit California a more memorable and emotionally resonant visual language, one capable of feeling both unified and expansive at the same time.

(07) REGION BADGES

The 12-region badge system was designed to give Visit California a more flexible and expressive way to represent the state at a regional level. Rather than treating California as a single, uniform destination, the badges acknowledge that its identity is built region by region, each with its own landscape, culture, rhythm, and point of attraction. Designed as a cohesive family, the marks allow every region to feel individually recognized while still reinforcing a stronger statewide brand system.