Herrick District Library: A Logo for Community & Connection

Herrick District Library needed a visual identity that reflected their evolution beyond books—representing imagination, discovery, and the diverse community they serve.

The Story

As HDL continued expanding services and spaces to meet their community’s changing needs, their existing logo no longer captured the full scope of who they’d become. They needed a fresh brand that honored their library roots while signaling HDL as a hub for creativity, connection, and innovation.

Deliverables Overview

Brand strategy and visual identity development
Logo design with multiple variations
Comprehensive brand standards guide
Brand rollout consultation

How We Worked Together

Working with HDL’s leadership and design committee, we benchmarked leading marks from institutions around the region and world to explore the genre. Afterall, there are many libraries, so it might be too easy to repeat the work of others and miss an opportunity for a unique mark. We then designed dozens of draft looks and presented the strongest handful to our client. The library’s team were strong partners in helping us suss out the right colors, shapes and styles that would complement and enhance their culture and space.

Results

Through our collaborative design process with HDL’s steering committee, we developed a design that works on multiple levels: tulip petals that also resemble pages, an open book at the center representing learning and literacy, and a subtle human figure reminding viewers that people are at the heart of everything HDL does. The abstract nature encourages new ideas and meaningful connections, just like the library itself.

The color palette draws directly from the interior design of both HDL locations, featuring hues that echo the sand, sky, and water of West Michigan’s beautiful lakeshore.

HDL’s new logo successfully captures their evolution as a modern library—a place for discovery, imagination, and community connection that extends far beyond books.

Brand flexibility

A dark base font and muted pallete make the library’s logo easy to get along with.

Balance

Not every logo has to be perfectly centered. HDL’s vertically-oriented mark embraces asymmetrical design to draw interest create a sense of balance to the wordmark below.