Bedford, Massachusetts — Rebranding
B ED FORD M A S S AC H U S E T T S R E BR A N D I N G
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Bedford, a small suburb of Boston, speaks to the incredible New England spirit — with the small town charm and the intelligence of the city, there truly is no place like Bedford.
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Table of Contents 6 10 16 22 28
Town Overview The Brand Promise The Logomark The System In Application
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History of Bedford
1729 Bedford was established in 1729 after the development of the town church (now the First Parish Church — the Unitarian Universalist Church). It is assumed that the name Bedford came from Bedfordshire, England. Throughout the next 50 years small parcels of land from Billerica and Lexington were added to Bedford.
1873 Through the 1800s, Bedford was a quaint farm town with a number of very successful industries including a hot box factory, shoe-making, pickles, grain and lumber. It was also during this time that a number of Bedford families become the hosts of the Underground railroad - including the historic Fitch Tavern property (built in 1710). The first railroad is built that connects Bedford to the urban center. The first town car is built in 1900.
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1928 The Bedford VA Hospital (currently named the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Administration Hospital) is constructed post war, establishing Bedford as a modern suburb. With this development came nearly a doubling of the Bedford population and bringing modern industry to the area.
1942 The Hascom Air Force Base and Hascom Air Field. In current day, the Hascom Air Force Base is a non-flying base, but it has been the site of training for WWII. The Hanscom AFB is also closely connect to MIT and MITRE research; they are both now located in Bedford. Many important political figures have flown through Hanscom including but not limited to the Obama family, the Kennedy’s, etc.
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Modern Day Contemporary Bedford is a upper middle class, white collar town well known for its ice cream, the air force base, and being the site of the iRobot, Mitre and the MIT Lincoln Lab facilities. With one of the top ten rated public high schools and a median household income well over $30k more than the statewide median, the lifestyle of the 14,411 residents of Bedford can be seen as desirable and even idealistic. Despite its idealistic appearances and its distinct and beautiful history, Bedford has not been able to shake its history and look to its bright and burgeoning future for its newer residents. The rebrand will address future of the town.
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The Rebranding Design Promise
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Reinvent Bedford as a forward looking community that’s unique history shaped its future, rather than the history dictating the now.
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People, places and faces of current day Bedford
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The Mark
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The Meaning Behind the Mark
The Forms The letterforms reference the futuristic and tech/research focus of the town. In addition to the forms themselves, the different shapes and sizes represent the diversity and culture of the town itself.
The Shape The square shape of the mark itself represents the solidarity and stability of the community at large. While squares can be seen as common and boring, the square here represents the security and equality the town seeks to showcase.
The Space The spaces in-between the forms shows the individuality of the people living in the town and how they speak on their own but are stronger together. These are the spaces between us.
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Scaling the Mark
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The System
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The Color Profile
Granite Grey C: 15 M: 11 Y: 18 K: 0
Royalty Blue C: 100 M: 98 Y: 29 K: 19
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TH
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— Considerate of the past and the future, the typography is carefully considered to look at the past and reference the future of the town.
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OGRA P Y T
GT Walsheim
Else NPL
GT Walsheim is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by NoĂŤl Leu and released in 2010 through Swiss foundry Grilli Type. The design was inspired by the hand-painted lettering found on the 1930s posters of Swiss designer Otto Baumberger. GT Walsheim has a lot of interesting characteristics that distinguish it from other geometric sans, such as the bar that juts outward on the uppercase G.
At first glance, Else may seem to be similar to many of the Century typefaces, with its prominent figures and sturdy alphabet. But when Robert Norton, of Norton Photosetting Ltd., designed Else in 1982, he added a bit of flair to that basic model. Note the bowl of the g, the splayed legs of the M, the sharply curved G and J, as well as the leading strokes of v and w and both of the graceful ampersands.
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In Application — Paper Assets
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Environmental Graphics
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Apparel Applications
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Michelle Wang — Autumn 2018 42