Case Study For
Hickory Nut Falls Family Campground
Website Design & Build | Logo Design | Branding
The Client
Hickory Nut Falls Family Campground is a local, family-owned campground in Chimney Rock. When I first met them for a discovery meeting I learned they had been using a photograph of a sticker that contained their original logo from when the campground first opened, as their logo. They were planning major renovations to the campground, so they were in desperate need of a new logo, branding, and a fully functioning mobile-friendly website.
Mood Board & Wireframes
I wanted to make sure their new logo design was easier to read than the previous while also keeping the rustic feel. Round text in a logo can be hard to read, so I changed it to horizontal. I kept the previous brand colors and logo mark (the walnut) which was really contained the core slogan of their campground, "I'm a camping nut." I upgraded their font to one with bold, rough edges for a 'hand-crafted' feel—much like old hand-painted signs. This was first-and-foremost a family-owned place, and I wanted that traditional feel to be seen. I made sure these colors, fonts, and overall rustic forest feel traveled throughout their website as well.
Brand Development
Since gold and brown were part of the original colors, the others were selected around them. I chose a complimentary teal to help represent the smoky mountain range that the campground was located in. Simple icons were selected for options on the site so that users could easily determine what they were selecting, tents, log cabins, or travel trailer spots. Their brand pattern actually has 2 forms. The first being a mountain range cutout and tree-line cutouts. The second being a topographical map pattern—for non-hikers a topographical map displays elevation. This elevation pattern was selected as another subliminal representation of being up in the mountains.
Summary
Overall this was one of my most exciting projects to work on. I enjoyed witnessing how much both generations of the family loved the campground and wanted it to stay open. I had really set the bar high for myself on this project as I did not want to let them down. They were so excited from the start, that after presenting the first logo and site mockup I barely had to make any revisions. In the end, they were thrilled to have a site and logo that kept close to their original design, and expressed their family values, while also giving them the opportunity to brand themselves in the area and stand out in a unique way.
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