Madwell Launches New Brand Identity for Trust for Public Land

Madwell has created a new brand identity including logo for Trust for Public Land (TPL), a US nonprofit dedicated to connecting everyone to the joys and benefits of the outdoors.

The new brand for TPL debuted recently on channels such as the tpl.org website. Madwell was retained for the design assignment in February 2021.

For nearly 50 years, TPL has delivered its mission of creating parks and protecting land for people. TPL’s history of impact spans well-known iconic places like Zion National Park, Yosemite National Park, the Appalachian Trail and even the Hollywood sign, to neighbourhood parks and trails that put residents within a 10-minute walk of home. However, TPL has an ambitious vision of nearly doubling its impact over the next five years – and it needed to broaden its support base to do so. In order to engage and inspire the millions of people in the US who believe they and future generations need equitable access to the healing and unifying power of nature and the outdoors, TPL updated its brand to better connect with those audiences.

“Parks have for too long been viewed as a ‘nice to have’ not a ‘need to have’,” said I Ling Thompson, SVP, chief marketing and communications officer for Trust for Public Land. “Our parks and public lands support local economies, improve physical and mental health, and make our communities more resilient to flooding and heat resulting from climate change. Yet our data shows that communities of colour have 43% less parks space than Caucasian communities, and low income communities have 42% less space. TPL has the opportunity to spotlight this glaring outdoor equity gap and drive significant change in this space. Our new brand is now aligned with our strategic focus so we can reach more people than ever to support our mission of connecting everyone to the outdoors. I’m grateful to Madwell for their extraordinary work that will help us long into the future.”  

Madwell approached the challenge by humanising the environmental movement that fights for everyone to have access to the outdoors. TPL’s focus: tirelessly working to ensure access to public land for every individual and community. This insight led Madwell to base the new logo design on a shield - a symbolic nod to TPL’s deep roots in advocating for and protecting public lands for all. Merging that shape with subtle cues from nature, like the segments in a leaf, allowed the design to flex into other layers of storytelling, bringing in elements representing the outdoors like sky, foliage, and sunlight.

“This was a dream project to use our ideas for good - to support the fight for and protection of the urban parks, forests and national parks right in our own backyards in Denver and Brooklyn and beyond,” said Steve Barry, managing director at Madwell. “It's a new look, but still the same powerful mission.”