After the City’s previous rebrand “failed to make a positive impression,” the City of Covington’s department of Economic Development was in search of a new brand that would reflect the city’s unique character and attract a wide range of businesses, investors, and developers to the city.

Our team has deep roots in Covington, so we were thrilled to be tasked with rebuilding Covington’s Economic Development brand from the foundation up. To ensure that the creative process incorporated feedback and input from the people of Covington, we wrote and built out city-wide surveys, which gave us invaluable qualitative data on the city’s deep-felt values and needs. From these insights came the City’s bold new manifesto, reimagining Covington’s story as a direct letter—from our City to Yours—proclaiming Covington’s pride, progressive values, and sense of possibility. Inspired by the bicentennial era of American graphic design, the COV graphics recall the City’s quirky and vintage-progressive attitude, where the past meets progress, where timelessness meets the ventures of tomorrow.

Within Covington, between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the Ohio River, lies the busiest section of the city – Madison Avenue. It is the true, central pathway of downtown Covington, guiding locals and tourists alike to best experience the unapologetic city and it’s offerings. With high tourism and an increase in economic development happening in Covington, city officials were looking for a way to help guide residents and visitors from one end of the city to the other.

Durham named, designed and outlined a new way to navigate the city — the Madison Mile — our solution to the wayfinding opportunity in the place we call home. This multi-stop experience features a carefully plotted set of monuments and digital signage that direct foot traffic to Covington’s areas of interest. Whether you’re quickly scanning the closest route to Mainstrasse Village, or in need of detailed directions to the closest cup of matcha, the Madison Mile offers multiple ways to navigate and experience all corners of the Cov.

And while the Madison Mile may be new, the bones are built from the brand identity we laid out in our 2022 rebrand of the City of Covington’s Economic Development department. Implementing our concentric line language and bold blue, we designed the static and digital signage to carry brand continuity throughout the city applications. Using dimensional channel letters and internal light powered within for nighttime navigation, these signs shine a bright and blue path up and down Madison Avenue that assist in guiding passersby to all of the nearby noteworthy happenings in our city.

A partnership with meetNKY & Rove iQ.

Featured on Brand New.