Developing AMPBID's Brand and Visual Identity

It’s not every day you can wander into a vibrant neighborhood with multicultural restaurants, donned with whimsical boutiques and buzzing with musical venues. But that’s the everyday norm for residents of the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Washington, DC.

Preserving the peculiarity and weirdness that makes Adams Morgan a destination for visitors and safe home for residents is the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District (AMPBID). Since the nonprofit was formed in 2005, AMPBID has focused on three specific areas: cleanliness, safety, and marketing.

AMPBID was seeking new ways to attract visitors and entice residents to see their own neighborhood as a destination. Part of this challenge included overcoming outdated stereotypes while honoring the rich history and embracing the new opportunities that popped up every day.

To better understand how we could address AMPBID’s intent, Throughline immersed ourselves in the culture. It wasn’t a stretch of a task seeing that we, too, call Adams Morgan home and the official headquarters of our company. We utilized a variety of research methods from a series of workshops with local AMPBID members. We also adopted an objective lens as we explored other nearby neighborhoods and went on walks around our own.

Our team quickly realized an updated brand identity would be the perfect way for Adams Morgan to begin its transformation with the right blend of fun and sophistication.

Today, every piece of communication from AMPBID, both print and digital, features the logo and artwork we proudly created for the place we call home. The brand persists and has matured in AMPBID’s hands. Online engagement has increased since the deployment of the new identity, and AMPBID employees regularly wear the logo with pride. The charm, coherence, and recognizability of their materials has helped to attract new visitors and businesses while boosting the spirit of the neighborhood.