Rainbow River Conservation Logo Design
What is the Rainbow River?
The Rainbow River is located in southwest Marion County near the town of Dunnellon, approximately 20 miles southwest of Ocala, Florida.
The first magnitude spring system that forms the Rainbow River has an average discharge rate of 493 million gallons per day and is one of 33 first magnitude spring systems in Florida.
The river flows south from the headspring complex approximately 5.7 miles to the tannic Withlacoochee River, which feeds to the Gulf of Mexico.
What is Rainbow River Conservation, Inc?
Founded in 1962, Rainbow River Conservation is an all-volunteer organization whose mission is to protect and preserve the water quality, the natural beauty, the riverbed, and the flood plains of the Rainbow River through education, conservation, stewardship, and advocacy.
My goal was to create a logo that felt more representative of the river as well as the mission of the RRC, while simplifying the logo itself. Minimizing sharp angles and small spaces allows the logo to be seen and recognized from any distance, plus makes printing or embroidering it much easier.
-
- Standalone Logo
-
- Wordmark
I wanted something that felt smooth and flowing, but could tell the story of the river itself. I looked at the river’s many resources and came up with a few that felt important to incorporate:
The Spring Source
The source of the river is Rainbow Springs, where 400 million gallons of water emerge from the aquifer every day, supplying the river with its pristine clear water and strong natural current. It's the heart of the river, and its protection is vital to the health of this endangered ecosystem. To represent this emergence of groundwater, I incorporated an upside down water drop to symbolize its rise from the depths below.
The River
Due to the rate of water discharge from the headspring, as well as the flatness of Florida's terrain, the river doesn't curve very much. But about 1.5 miles downriver, the river bends to create a bluff known as K.P. Hole. This area is very popular to visitors, as it is one of only two places to launch a watercraft or tube (the other being the headspring), as well as get an unobstructed view of the river. As it is very well known to those familiar with the river, I wanted to represent this key area within the negative space of the logo.
The Recreation
Rainbow River's biggest claim to fame is the lazy river floats that are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. Guests enter the park, set an inflatable raft in the water, and let the current take them downriver over the course of a few hours. While this practice is enjoyable and economically benefits the preserve, the practice can cause damage to the river. While this relationship is complicated, recreation within a healthy river provides yet another reason for its protection. I wanted the logo to appear as though it could comfortably fit within one of these iconic leisure rafts.
The Wildlife
The river offers sanctuary for an incredibly diverse array of native flora and fauna. Perhaps the most common, the white egret is found along the river's edge at all times of the year - contrasting its light plumage against the darkness of the forested bank. The shape is obviously meant as the letter R, however I kept it slightly abstract to allow it to represent the egret, a snake, a fish, or maybe even a turtle's head.
The Namesake
It's easy to understand why it's named the Rainbow River. The sunlight interacting with the clear water casts rainbows onto the white sandy bottom, which can often be seen from the surface thanks to the water clarity and shallow depth. In fact, the name is so synonymous with the river that the majority of businesses and housing subdivisions in the area share the Rainbow nomenclature. So naturally, incorporating the rainbow shape, while also tilting it a bit to invoke the sense of protection via a shield, made the most sense to complete the logo's story.
Color Palette
To round out the new logo, I created a color palette to help keep consistency with their brand as they continue to expand and grow. The colors are representative of the river as well: dark blue for the fresh water source, light blue for the shallow depth, turquoise for the pure spring water, tan for the light sand on the bottom, and orange for the sun that touches both banks of the river. The colors tell the story of beneath the water, within the water, and above the water.
