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DNREC Logo Redesign – A Case Study


DNREC moves into the future
with a new logo.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s previous logo, created sometime in the early 1970s, was well known in Delaware. However, with the advancement of technology and change in consumer expectations and needs, a logo refresh was due. DNREC sought our consultancy and design expertise to move the department into the future.

Department of Natural History and Environmental Control logo

The original Department logo design, first introduced in the mid 1970s.

The Redesign Process

A logo is one of the most important parts of a company or any identity system. The final design will need to meet a lot of different criteria to be considered successful: simple shapes, symbolic meaning, and scalability. The original DNREC logo did present some challenges for scalability. This meant the new logo design should be optimal for all spaces, digital and physical.

Before landing on a final design, designers will often create many options using paper, pencil, vector software, and other methods to explore different designs.

an in process sketch of The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control logo redesign process
place holder for sketches and progress shots of logo

The Final Design

DNRECs New logo: Vibrant Delaware

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control logo in horizontal lockup.
DNREC’s new logo, Vibrant Delaware in a horizontal lock up.

DNREC’s new logo, affectionately titled, Vibrant Delaware, features a sun shining high in the sky along with three yellow poplar trees representing the three counties in Delaware. The land has a slight bow to show the state’s low elevation. The water, land, and sky represent the environment.

This logo is built to be responsive, meaning the logo is designed in different orientations or lock ups to fit popular uses. For example, the logo mark would be used as the icon located in the tab of a web browser window, this is called a favicon. The DNREC official seal can be used as an embroidered accent to uniforms. The horizontal and vertical logos can be used alternatively within forms, pamphlets, and other promotional materials.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control all logos are in view, the official seal, vertical logo, horizontal logo, and the logo mark.
The new DNREC logo displayed in all four different orientations. This helps DNREC have all the tools they need to represent their department effectively online and in person.

The new logo, out in the wild.

Now that DNREC has announced their new logo, a roll out process will begin. The image shown is one of the first building signs to feature the new logo. Be on the lookout for other signs and more to come in the upcoming months!

Thank you for reading through our logo redesign case study. If you would like to see more examples of our creative work, visit our Graphic Design Projects page.

Lukens Drive DNREC signage with new logo

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