Branding
The United States Capitol Visitor Center also referred to as the CVC, is a large underground addition to the United States Capitol which serves as a gathering point for up to 4,000 tourists a day.
The structure also houses expansion space for Congress. In fact, the massive visitor center complex contains roughly 580,000 square feet of space on three separate floors and is located directly below the East Front of the Capitol and its plaza. In total the project cost 621 million dollars and officially opened on December 2, 2008 after eight years of construction. Currently, it is one of the most secure underground public spaces in the world.
I had the pleasure of touring both the U.S. Capitol and the Capitol Visitors Center twice during various phases of the construction and was awestruck by the beauty of the new space. Despite the fact that you are often three stories underground you never feel closed in. It is an open, airy space that is clean and inviting. You get the sense of where you are by looking up through two massive skylights that offer you a clear view of the Capitol dome towering just above. One thing that is quite apparent in the space is the sense of history and I knew immediately that I wanted to capture that aspect in the essence of any logo that our creative team designed. During both tours of the Capitol I photographed every bit of the space that I was allowed to. The Capitol building itself is a testament to the history of this Nation and holds so much information in the artwork, sculptures, architecture and artifacts.
Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
Our creative team studied every aspect of the Capitol and analyzed the details. Once we had a good sense of direction we began the verbal identity, ultimately landing on the tagline of “Involve. Inform. Inspire.” This message was critical to the development of the visual concepts and the brand as a whole. Personally, I tried hard not to focus on a particular visual style when developing concepts but rather build upon ideas that embodied the spirit of the space. The concepts featured here focused on the Statue of Freedom which is located at the very top of the Capitol dome and became a focal point of the CVC interior. A replica statue is one of the first things you see as you enter the massive plaza area of the complex.
In total our team developed over 15 unique visual concepts. We then carefully selected the strongest candidates and clarified the narrative behind each and every one. For a building who’s purpose was to inform, involve and inspire we felt the logo mark that represents the space should do the same. The final logo was chosen by and Act of Congress and was the launch point for all brand collateral material designed for the space. Although one of my concepts was not chosen as the final logo I feel honored to have been part of the process in building a landmark of Washington history. During both tours of the Capitol I photographed every bit of the space that I was allowed to. The Capitol building itself is a testament to the history of this Nation and holds so much information in the artwork, sculptures, architecture and artifacts.