Evergreen Christmas Lights
Category
Brand Identity
Environmental Design
Visual Design
Roles
Art Director
Brand Designer
Print Designer
Visual Designer
Tools
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Acrobat
Timeframe
4 weeks
(October ’24 – November ’24)
Collaborators
Jeffrey LeBlanc
The light show is strung along the main entrance of the church building, with other festivities scattered throughout the Church’s campus.
Overview
Evergreen Church, a non-denominational church in Bothell, WA, hosts a renowned Christmas Light Show that draws over 50,000 visitors each December. Their mission is to bring holiday cheer during the darkest time of year while sharing the story of Jesus Christ – the original reason for the Christmas celebration.
Problem to Solve
Evergreen Church's Christmas Light Show needed a brand refresh that would reflect its scale and impact. The goal was to create an identity that would be long-lasting, multigenerational in appeal, and capture both the festive spirit of the show and the heart of the local community.
Pictured here is the light tunnel, a part of the Christmas light show experience before this redesign took place.
Research & Insight
Our research highlighted the need for highly visible, quickly processable signage that would stand out to people passing by in the area. The design needed to cut through an already stimulating environment of holiday lights and decorations while remaining legible in low-light conditions.
Design Process:
Color Palette
The color palette centers on traditional Christmas red and green – complementary colors that ensure visibility at night while maintaining holiday authenticity. Gold accents break up the complementary color scheme and nod to both traditional Christmas decor and the biblical symbolism of one of the Magi's gifts of gold that was given to Baby Jesus.
Logo
The final logo features a dynamic, festive typeface with custom swashes and an upward-sloping baseline that creates visual excitement. A treeline crowns the design, connecting to both the 'Evergreen' name and the church's physical setting. The stars below represent both the light show's magic and the twinkle of the night sky, while soft edges make the logo more welcoming.
Typography
To infuse elegance and timelessness into the logo, Bookmania Semibold Italic was initially chosen but proved difficult to read on signage. Brevia ExtraBlack emerged as the ideal choice, offering a fun, friendly, and approachable feel that the church desired while harmonizing with the logo and rounded elements. The juxtaposition of these two typefaces created a satisfying balance, reinforcing the community-focused spirit of the event.
Since the church's main building is more secluded and away from the streets, we put these two advertisement banners (8’x12’) on the backside of the smaller building, where people would see them when passing by on the main road.
Style
We used color-blocking with squares and rectangles to create a clear visual hierarchy and chunk information into digestible pieces. This modular approach also made the design system highly adaptable across different print materials and wayfinding elements.
Signage
For wayfinding, we incorporated repeating icons to improve accessibility and quick recognition. These symbols help visitors instantly understand directional information, especially in crowded or low-light conditions, while consciously filling vertical space.
All volunteers were given red vests to stand out from the busy crowd.
Conclusion
The refreshed brand identity elevated the event's professional image while maintaining its joyful, community-focused spirit. Through consistent application of our modular design system and thoughtful integration of festive elements, we created a cohesive experience that matches the wonder of the light show itself. The new identity successfully guides visitors through the experience while honoring both the show's entertainment value and its deeper spiritual significance.
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