Shedd Aquarium
Class: Systems as Brands
Timeline: 12 weeks
Role: Brand Designer & Creative Director
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Figma, Procreate
For the rebranding project for my branding class, I chose to rebrand Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. I began with brand strategy, analyzing competitors and the target audience, as well as Shedd’s mission and vision, to develop an understanding of effective visual strategies. My design work began with a visual exploration with moodboards and keywords, before covering essential brand components such as logo, color palette, typography, graphic illustrations, and relevant sample applications in the complete brand guidelines.
Rebranding Chicago’s historic Shedd Aquarium to emphasize its vibrancy and conservation.
I chose to rebrand Shedd Aquarium for this project since it was and still is a nostalgic and dear place to me as a Chicago native, having visited the place many times as a child and teen. My goal for this rebranding was to emphasize the wonder and excitement I felt from the aquarium as a child while bringing out the highlights and its conservatory work for marine life and coral reefs.
I began with an audience and competitor analysis to scope out the current positioning and target demographic for the Shedd Aquarium. Because many of Chicago’s cultural institutions are located in the same area, its biggest competitors are a combination of these institutions as well as other traditionally more entertaining attractions like Navy Pier. From creating a positioning X-Y chart, I was able to see that Shedd Aquarium had a lot more potential to boost its educational aspects and create a more visually appealing branding to stand out among the other cultural institutions surrounding it in Chicago.
RESEARCH
I drew inspiration from the vibrant colors of the ocean for all of the three moodboards I made, and overall I wanted a way to capture movement and playfulness reminiscent of marine life.
VISUAL EXPLORATION
Through two rounds of moodboards and five rounds of logo iterations, I was able to create a logo and mark, as well as a pattern. The mark was created by illustrating the silhouette of two corals featured in Shedd Aquarium’s conservation efforts, staghorn and elkhorn, and intersecting the two as a window to an aquarium tank. I wanted Shedd Aquarium’s conservation and restoration strategies to be reflected tangibly in its brand identity.
FINAL BRAND IDENTITY
For sample applications, I had the opportunity to explore the numerous options I could see the aquarium applying as a cultural institution in an urban site. I wanted the imagery to make full use of the vibrancy and wildlife diversity in the institution. The other graphics are the silhouettes of the staghorn and elkhorn corals, which are applied in later merchandise such as tote bags and enamel pins. I wanted to mock up collateral such as street banners and bus stop ads in particular, as the route to get to the Shedd Aquarium via public transit is by bus.
