Rebranding a City from the Inside Out
The City of Albertville brought us in with a bold vision — to create a unified, modern brand system that would represent not just the city itself, but each of its essential departments. From core services like Fire & Rescue and the Police Department to community staples like the Senior Center, Library, Airport, and Municipal Courts, each department needed a brand that stood on its own while remaining tied to the greater identity of Albertville.
A More Personal Project
As a team made up of locals who grew up in and around Albertville, this project meant more to us than just design work. This was a passion project, rooted in pride for our community and a desire to help it put its best foot forward.
We worked closely with city leadership to create a cohesive family of logos and visual assets that not only modernized the city’s look but captured its spirit — blending tradition with forward-thinking design to represent Albertville’s momentum and unity
Fragmented Brands
The Journey Toward Unified Design
When we began working with the City of Albertville, one thing was immediately clear — there was no visual consistency across departments. While the city had recently updated its main logo, none of the departments had followed suit. Each had its own look (or no real branding at all), making it difficult to recognize them as part of the same citywide organization.
A System That Worked for Everyone
We knew that for the rebrand to truly work, it couldn’t be a top-down design handed off in isolation — it had to serve the unique needs of each department while still fitting within a shared visual language. Our approach was simple: listen first, design second.
The city had recently adopted a new main logo, and we saw that as our anchor. It was important to preserve the integrity of that updated identity while expanding it into a system that could support departments with very different needs. Each new design had to feel unique to the department, but unmistakably Albertville.
We met with every department — from Police and Fire & Rescue to the Library, Airport, Senior Center, and Municipal Courts — to understand their audiences, challenges, and goals. Some needed something official and authoritative. Others needed something more community-focused or service-oriented. Each conversation helped shape how the system would adapt — without ever drifting from the core brand.
The result was a flexible brand system: one consistent identity, expressed in many forms, built to scale across signage, uniforms, digital, print, and beyond.
The Results
Albertville Regional Airport
This logo was designed to reflect motion, energy, and forward momentum — aligning with the airport’s vision for growth and connectivity. We wanted it to feel modern and professional, while still clearly rooted in the identity of Albertville.
Albertville Police Department
The department wanted to honor the new city brand by incorporating the mountain symbol from the main Albertville logo. Our goal was to create something that felt trustworthy, modern, and distinctly theirs — while still visually tied to the city they serve and protect.
Albertville Fire & Rescue
The department asked for something clean and straightforward — a logo that didn’t rely on traditional firefighter symbols, but still conveyed strength and trust. We focused on simplicity, legibility, and a visual system that could adapt easily across uniforms, trucks, and print.
Albertville Municipal Court
The court had always used the scales of justice as a symbol, but never with a consistent look or identity. Our goal was to create a version that felt refined, balanced, and uniquely theirs — something that honored the tradition while bringing visual clarity and cohesion to how they present themselves to the public.
Albertville Library
The library already had a beautifully illustrated logo that resonated with the community, so our goal wasn’t to redesign it — but to refine and align it. By updating the typography to match the city’s visual system, we helped bring the library’s identity into a cohesive family of brands while preserving the heart of what made their mark special.
Albertville Senior Center
The Senior Center didn’t have a visual identity in place — just a name. They wanted something that felt warm, welcoming, and uniquely Southern, without leaning into outdated or overly traditional styles. Our goal was to create a brand that felt dignified yet fresh, with a sense of community and care at its core.
A Guide for the Future
Creating a unified brand wasn’t just about designing logos — it was about giving the City of Albertville a clear, lasting framework for how to use them. That’s where the style guide came in.
We developed a comprehensive yet easy-to-follow style guide that outlines everything from logo usage and color codes to typography, spacing, and tone. It ensures that no matter who’s creating the material — whether it’s a city employee, a local vendor, or an outside designer — the end result still looks and feels like Albertville.
The guide empowers every department to maintain consistency without second-guessing — making the city’s brand stronger, more recognizable, and more professional across every platform and piece of communication.
A Home for Every Asset
Making Consistency Easy for Everyone
Once the branding system was complete, the next challenge was making sure it could be used effectively — not just by city staff, but by printers, vendors, designers, and anyone else who needed access. Before this project, it was a constant struggle to track down the right logo file, find the right colors, or send someone a high-res version of a department seal.
We worked with the City of Albertville to create a centralized, easy-to-use asset hub — a dedicated place where all logos, file formats, color codes, and brand materials could live, organized by department and ready for download. No more digging through emails or sending outdated versions — just a simple, streamlined solution to keep every piece of communication on-brand and consistent.