About eight years ago, Gwinnett County’s economic engine for tourism went through a rebranding. The Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau (GCVB) became Explore Gwinnett, with the tagline “Atlanta’s Playground.” It was an opportunity to encourage visitors to explore the Atlanta suburbs of Gwinnett County and its family-friendly attractions, sports and must-see events.
Now Explore Gwinnett is taking the rebranding a step further with a new logo designed by award-winning design and branding studio, the kru. With clients such as Visit Athens, the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Serene18 Paddle Trail, the creative team has a proven track record of dependability, creativity and excellence.
“We’ve intentionally kept our studio selective and small. This allows us to connect with our clients and get to know their brand in a unique way,” said Chris Rucker, the kru’s founder and creative director.
Explore Gwinnett held a launch party for the new logo last month at Westin Atlanta Gwinnett’s rooftop bar, Overstory.
“We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” said Lisa Anders, executive director of Explore Gwinnett. “We were going to do it in 2020, but COVID hit. We actually had it budgeted and everything.”
But fate had a way of turning the lemons into lemonade. She saw rebranding materials from Athens and Augusta and was blown away by the design.
“My colleague there told me they were so happy with the results, and when we got their newsletter, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this so much!’” she said. “It had the right identity.”
Most diverse county in the state
With Gwinnett County being perhaps the most diverse county in the state, it was important to Anders that the brand reflect the differences, but at the same time, convey that everything was accessible in one convenient area.
“It had to be able to reach across all of Gwinnett County,” she said. “We wanted to really cover that, so the discovery of the kru company was perfect.”
The feedback so far has been quite positive.
“The message has been well received,” said Anders. “What we’re doing is helping us unify all of our divisions. We have the creativity and fun, which is the arts and cultural, and we also have a hospitality training as well as the film and television division. We’re actually taking all three of those and bringing that under the brand so that they’re not identical, but they’re very much in the same family.”
For more information, visit exploregwinnett.org.
To learn more about the kru, visit kruhu.com.
