Watermarks Creating a New Water Narrative for the City of Milwaukee
City as Living Laboratory (CALL) works with artists, scientists, and residents of urban communities to create sustainable solutions for urgent environmental issues, including climate, equity, and health.
Watermarks aims to create a new water narrative for the City of Milwaukee, where citizens recognize water as a resource and a responsibility, vital to life as well as to general well-being across the region.
Logotype
The logotype employs a custom cut of the font Futura, a typeface originally designed by type designer Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926. Futura was deemed the font of our time and also as the font of the future.
With Futura’s geometric precision and clean anatomy, the logotype subverts the ‘W’ in Watermarks to create a mirroring ‘M,’ a reflection of itself, not unlike the reflection one sees of themselves looking into water.
Logomark
The logomark, borrowing the ‘W’ and ‘M’ from the logotype, is contained in a circular form, nodding to the ripple effect when the surface of water is activated by an object.
Headline Logotype
The headline logotype was designed for consistent application across a variety of marketing assets to support and celebrate the project.
Color System
A color system was designed to activate the logotype, logomark, and headline logotype on various backgrounds, including imagery and solid background fills, to ensure maximum legibility for specific use cases.
Pattern
The pattern, comprised of the ‘W’ and ‘M’ in the logomark, evokes the repetition of light reflecting on moving water.
Activations
The visual system was applied across a variety of print, digital, and promotional materials.
