Create a Festive Feeling in Your Town Each Season with Beautifully Branded Graphics
Here in New Jersey the weather is getting colder, the cool winds are blowing, and snowy days are soon to come. People in your community hustle and bustle through the streets, seeking places to stay warm from the winter chill. Your fellow townspeople have started to pull out their hats, scarves and mittens when they venture to the downtown stores.
But as one of these townspeople, as you walk down the street, do you notice the store windows? What’s on display this time of year—pumpkins, wreaths, snowflakes? Is there a cohesive feeling to identify your town as different from the next, a brand or look and feel that helps bring out the community’s “personality?”
If your answer is “no,” here are some ideas for curating a cohesive town atmosphere for every season.
Winter: Apply snowflakes to shop windows
You might be looking for new ways to bring some cheer into the cold winter months. Your downtown might still be recovering from the economic challenges of the pandemic and supply chain issues. There could be vacant stores with empty front windows, making your walk down the street less pleasant and exciting than it had once felt.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. You could turn those empty windows into something cheerful with some planning.
Around the start of the pandemic, our client, Westfield, New Jersey, took the opportunity to add some wintry vibrancy to the town by applying beautiful snowflake graphics in their vacant store windows. They also placed snowflakes in other businesses to give the whole business district a united, cozy feeling.
Anyone walking or driving down the streets that winter could immediately tell they were in Westfield in winter – and they were happy to be there.
Bring May flowers with April showers
Of course, you can’t have snowflakes up all year long. The business owners of Westfield were taught how to remove and store their reusable graphics for the following year so they could be reapplied to the windows.
In the springtime, the snowflakes are replaced by beautiful graphic flowers to signify the change of season. These daisies, daffodils and tulips tie the aesthetic of the businesses together and give you a warm, happy feeling as you walk through the town.
Spring will be here before you know it. Now is the time to plan so that your town will also benefit from lovely spring-time graphics in the businesses’ windows. And while you’re at it, think about what you can swap in next summer and fall. A year-round program will create the feeling you want throughout the whole year.
Gather townspeople for pumpkin spice lattes
Having flowers or snowflakes in your windows is one way to help identify and evoke a feeling in your town seasonally, but in what other ways can you support community and vibrancy? Are you portraying a warm, friendly vibe? Is there a welcoming feeling?
Throughout the year, decorations and signage that are on brand in various places for upcoming events can help encourage members to have pride in their community and gather together.
Branded posters in store windows and community spaces can remind the residents about the local book club’s fall-themed reading list - join in and bring a pumpkin spice latte! Or hang street banners reminding people to gather at the green and sip on some hot cocoa for the winter festival – Santa is coming soon!
The branding across these elements should remain consistent but be adaptable and creative enough to flow as the seasons do.
Branding every season in your New Jersey town
Winter, spring, summer or fall, creating an enjoyable experience for your town can be done through branding. Add reusable graphic snowflakes or flowers to inspire a cheerful vibe and encourage people to visit. A cohesive look and feel across your posters, banners and signage reinforce your experience in town, and will help you remember your time spent in the business district.
Community members participate and feel pride when they can identify with all your town has to offer. Professionally designed seasonal graphics and brand applications will give you new ways to reinforce your brand and create the feel that’s right for your town.
If you are interested in making your town stand out, bringing your community together and encouraging others to visit, schedule a Brand Audit with MyDowntown Mobile®.
