The City of Seattle's Step Forward was an event to celebrate the grand opening of the SR 99 tunnel. The tunnel travels under downtown Seattle and is the voter-approved option to replace the dilapidated Alaskan Way Viaduct, torn down in 2019.
The logo needed to highlight the opening of the tunnel, say farewell to the viaduct, and celebrate future improvements to Seattle's waterfront. The top half of the logo represents the circular tunnel, while the bottom is the rectangular viaduct. When combined they form a portal to "Step Forward" into the future. The gradients of color help lead the eye into the logo's center. Photography focuses on the multiplicity of the project, showing the different project and event areas.
With 10+ years and billions of dollars spent to build the SR 99 tunnel, there was a high demand from stakeholders and politicians to show off the completed project. This meant many different opinions shaping the brand. There were several rounds of logo concepts that didn't satisfy all parties. In the end, stripping the creative brief to its essentials (representing the tunnel, viaduct, and future) led to a solution everyone could agree on. In the end, the event was a great success with over 100,000 people attending.
BRAND GUIDELINES
