As part of the urban core renewal projects, Oklahoma City was set to add a new 4.6 mile rail-based streetcar system to include 22 stops linking major employers, businesses, attractions and residents in the downtown area.

The folks at Anglin PR and OKC’s EMBARK transit approached us to create the new brand with a forward-thinking appeal that would align well with their existing EMBARK brand, but also stand independently. They also tasked us to create a clear and concise messaging strategy to emphasize the value proposition of the new streetcar, as well as to provide a clean and consistent look and feel to be used effectively in multiple platforms: in print, on the web, in signage, and on cars.

After visiting the city and conducting a series of stakeholder interviews and local focus groups (as well as an online questionnaire), we formulated a strategic approach focusing on expressing a confident uniqueness, boldness, and simple clarity. The new brand needed to easily reach forward to the future and avoid the nostalgia of looking backward into the past.

Inspired by the shape of the streetcar itself, the logo is intended to convey an essence of connection, flow, and movement, while evoking the urban and angular—the architectural—to help the brand connect to the essential qualities of central Oklahoma City. It also contains a specific allusion to EMBARK brand arrow—Oklahoma City’s bus system—which helps the new streetcar retain a relationship to its parent brand.