The Lake County Forest Preserves introduced a refreshed brand logo during its regular board meeting Tuesday, January 14. The logo features crisp clean lines, an updated typeface, and incorporates more than one color for the first time in the agency's 61-year history, colors that symbolize the mission of the Lake County Forest Preserves for the community. The former version had been utilized for the past 28 years.

When the Forest Preserves set out last year to refresh the logo, a survey was sent to more than 31,000 Lake County residents to assess public recognition of the brand. Survey results showed that recognition of the logo mark, which has been in use since 1991, was indeed strong. The high awareness levels indicated that the familiar logo only needed updating, not a complete change. 

"Any brand logo should embody the mission of the business or institution it signifies," said Angelo Kyle, President of the Lake County Forest Preserves. He said adding color would help do just that. "We started with green because 93% of those who recognized our logo in the survey selected green as the primary color associated with it, so we kept green as the predominant color," he said. Green represents trees, foliage and grasses; dark green, mature growth, light green, new growth. A light brown was added to represent soil and new life, and blue to represent water. 

Other surveys that have been conducted show that water is one of the most important things to Lake County residents. Water means rainwater; access to clean, safe drinking water; ponds, lakes and rivers for recreation; human settlement patterns along water sources from ancient times to today; and the floodwater mitigation provided by forest preserve lands, which has shown itself to be increasingly important these past few years. 

"A strong brand mark will immediately be associated with how people feel about an organization. This modernized logo strengthens the vision of the Lake County Forest Preserves to provide health and life, clean water and new growth, open spaces, and restored landscapes for you and your family to enjoy today, and for generations to come," Kyle said.

Forest preserves are beautiful places, and the organization's new brand logo represents what these places mean to people who live, work and play in Lake County. Staff  members of the Lake County Forest Preserves had this to say about what they mean to them: " ... a chance to escape the world and be in nature;" " ... places to decompress, exercise, focus, relax, and learn something new;" " ... they preserve open space for wildlife, and for people to connect to nature with education and cultural resources as part of preservation."

Lake County residents also appreciate and feel connected to their preserves, based on comments recently posted on the Lake County Forest Preserves Facebook page: "... thank you Lake County Forest Preserves for such beautiful spaces to enjoy nature;"  " ... it really is incredible how well maintained our forest preserves are. It's really awesome that we have such a vast array of trails to explore here;" " ... Lake County Forest Preserves and (its) dog parks are some of the best in the country."

"Not only was it important to build on the strong public recognition of the logo, but we also wanted to keep the budget in mind with any logo updates. If an entirely new design had been created, all locations out in the landscape where the logo is currently displayed would have needed to be changed right away. The refreshed logo closely resembles the former version and is still recognizable to our core followers," Kyle said. The refreshed logo will replace the former version immediately on digital platforms and print materials, and as needed through attrition on preserve signs, vehicles, and staff uniforms.

Media Contact
Katherine Hamilton-Smith, Director of Public Affairs and Development, khamilton-smith@LCFPD.org, 847-968-3380

Photo Requests
Kim Mikus, Communications Specialist, kmikuscroke@LCFPD.org, 847-968-3202

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