By GIC Published on March 06th, 2025

Last updated on March 06th, 2025

Logos serve as the visual foundation of an organization, creating instant recognition, building brand identity, and hopefully making a strong first impression.

When it comes to government seals and logos, the primary goals are fostering trust and familiarity. And while there is some benefit to continuity, there are other concerns to consider these days: Evolving technology, updated accessibility guidelines, and the appetites and expectations of the consumer, which have certainly changed over the decades.

When Delaware’s Department of Agriculture was established in 1899, any visitors might have arrived by horse and carriage rather than by internet search!

More than a century later, The Delaware Government Information Center (whose blog you are currently reading) was created to help facilitate those modern online interactions. Over the years, the GIC has helped upgrade dozens of Delaware state agency websites, and we’re doing it again with the rollout of our new Lighthouse design system.

Last week we discussed some things agencies can do to prepare for moving over to their new website, and one of those recommendations was for agency decision-makers to take another look at their logo. So we thought we would take a look at ours and walk you through our thought process in updating it .

Our first website went live in 2006, with our original GIC logo:

Ten years later, we tweaked it a little while remaining faithful to the original:

But now, nearly twenty years later? It’s time to update things.

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Beyond the legitimate value of change for the sake of freshening things up, there are other reasons we felt the time was right to redesign our logo, and they are worth considering for your agency as well:

• Modernization: Align with current design trends to appear contemporary, up-to-date, and relevant.
• Brand Evolution: Reflect changes in the agency’s mission, vision, or values.
• Audience Appeal: Better resonate with a new or evolving target audience.
• Clarity and Simplicity: Improve legibility and simplicity for better recognition and memorability.
• Professionalism: Present a more polished and professional image to clients and stakeholders.
• Consistency: Create a cohesive visual identity that aligns with other branding elements.

With our new logo, we hope to project an image of growth and commitment to assisting our community through the digital sphere.

Circle Shape: For a more modern appearance, we updated the GIC logo from a square to a circle. Circles represent commitment, balance, and community. GIC brings balance to Delaware agencies and strives to foster a connection as the creators and distributors of The First State’s common Look and Feel, and pioneers for Delaware’s upcoming new Design System. GIC brings balance to Delaware agencies and we are working to create more of a connection with Lighthouse and our practices.

Arrow within the G: To represent the positive effect we have on agencies, we create for our agencies with our services, we incorporated an arrow into the G. Arrows symbolize moving forward and progress, and we are guiding agencies to reach their goals.

Font: We chose the Work Sans font for the text. This is an open-source Google font, that is freely available and meets accessibility standards.

Brand Colors:

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In the past, the GIC has helped agencies with the redesign of their logos. Here’s a case study of the redesign we did for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

While we are primarily focused on transitioning agencies to their Lighthouse websites, we’re happy to help evaluate your current logo and how it will look on the new site. If a new logo is needed, we can guide you through the process and share available options for logo creation. The GIC is committed to supporting your agency’s entire digital presence.

Please let us know if you have any questions about this post, about Lighthouse, or about anything else on your mind!

Until next time, happy evaluating!

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