How To Design a Visual Brand Identity For Central City, Home of The Flash
Central City is the home of the Silver Age version of the DC Comics superhero, The Flash. It’s a large, vibrant city in need of a visual brand identity that highlights the hope and energy it represents.
As with any visual brand identity I work on, I start with the main logo. The main logo will be the centerpiece. My efforts centered around playing with the lightning bolts and Cs. The Flash is the most recognizable part of Central City so I wanted to create something that referenced that while being a unique emblem for the city itself.
I drew a circle and adjusted the weight. Then, I cut a small portion to make the simple C. Inside the C, I created my own lightning shape using the grid. When it came to the colors, I pulled inspiration from The Flash — the red and gold shades. Within my Adobe Illustrator artboard, I worked on the various ideas that tied into the idea of Central City.
The shapes (the C and the lightning bolt) can be seen portrayed in various ways throughout the branding of the different districts and areas of the city. My research revealed the following areas within Central City: Downtown, the Waterfront District, the Theater District, the Upper East & West sides, and the Lower East & West sides. Downtown features two buildings in front of the main C and the lightning shape within the line art. The Waterfront District is a variation on the main logo with shades of blue and ripples in the center representing the color and movement of water. The Theater District logo is inspired by the masks commonly used to represent the acting profession. The lightning strike in the middle splits the mask referencing the city’s hero. With the Upper & Lower sections of the city, I took the inside shape and manipulated it to subtly reference that section of the city. You can see the inside is raised when used for the Upper sides and lowered for the Lower sides. The West sides are pointed to the west while the East sides point east.
Beyond the presence of metahumans, Central City has a lot to offer. I wanted to design additional logos that reflect that. Beyond the main logo, I created logos for such Central City landmarks as the coffee bar Jitters, the Central City Police Department, Central City University, and S.T.A.R. Labs. I took the logos and tested the brand concepts within mockups of various city advertisements. I also designed apparel for the city itself, CCU, and S.T.A.R. Labs.
This project was initially inspired by The Flash on The CW as well as my love of the creativity of fictional locales within comic book universes. This was fun to work on and a joy to see come together, as I figured out exactly what I wanted to do. I’m thinking I want to do more of these full brand projects in the future.
~b.
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