This destination identity embodies the wild spirit of DeSoto County and welcomes visitors to uncover a new side of Florida. The striking visual identity, cohesive messaging, and an in-depth marketing strategy sets DeSoto apart as a place unlike any other in the heart of Florida.
Brand
Identity
DeSoto County is offering an invitation to venture inland from the coast’s beaches and away from the theme parks to experience true Old Florida.
“Florida Wild” paints a picture of untamed natural beauty, the spirit of generational ranchers and farmers, and rich Latin culture just waiting to be explored. Families, adventure-seekers, and history buffs find their new favorite destination in the heart of Florida
DeSoto’s new logo features a color scheme symbolic of the region’s orange groves and palmetto trees, and embodies the county’s cowboy ethic and natural landscape.
Content
Creation
Our team spent time in DeSoto County to experience the true Florida Wild. Their adventures and the folks they met along the way were documented and used to create compelling marketing assets for DeSoto County to promote tourism.
Website
The county’s website serves as an online destination for visitors and potential new residents. Visit DeSoto is one more piece in the cohesive puzzle that is DeSoto County’s brand.
Website
The county’s website serves as an online destination for visitors and potential new residents. Visit DeSoto is one more piece in the cohesive puzzle that is DeSoto County’s brand.
Featuring the new logo and visual assets, the website highlights events and destinations around the county, making planning trips a breeze.
The success of the Visit DeSoto site led to the development of an additional site for DeSoto County’s Economic Development.
Strategy
DeSoto’s brand strategy promotes visitor awareness and information, while positioning the County as a destination for free-spirited adventure in the wild heart of Florida.
The new Strategy is built on brand language that emphasizes DeSoto’s heritage of ranching and rodeo, its appeal to history aficionados and antiques hunters, and its status as one of Florida’s last untouched wildernesses.
Destination by Design partnered with DeSoto County to create “Florida Wild,” a destination brand inviting visitors to explore one of the last unspoiled stretches of inland Florida wilderness. The project included brand strategy, logo and visual identity design, video and photography, and a new tourism website, all built around DeSoto’s ranching heritage, rich Latin culture, and untamed natural landscape, positioning the county as true Old Florida far from the coast’s beaches and theme parks.
In Florida, community branding and destination marketing work together to help inland counties compete with the state’s coastal tourism giants. DeSoto’s approach pairs a striking visual identity, featuring a color palette drawn from the region’s orange groves and palmetto trees, with an in-depth marketing strategy and the Visit DeSoto website, giving the county a cohesive presence that eventually led to a companion economic development site as well.
A strong brand can turn an overlooked rural county into a sought-after destination for a very specific kind of traveler. Florida Wild does exactly that, targeting families, adventure-seekers, and history buffs with brand language built around generational ranching and rodeo culture, antique hunting, and some of Florida’s last untouched wilderness, a positioning strategy that also supported the county’s broader economic development goals.
Community branding is the process of developing a visual identity, brand strategy, and marketing content that captures a place’s unique character and communicates it to visitors and prospective residents alike. For DeSoto County, that meant firsthand content creation across the county, documenting real ranchers, airboat guides, and local traditions to build a marketing library authentic enough to support the new Visit DeSoto website and brand.
DeSoto County sits inland in south-central Florida, well removed from the state’s coastal beaches and major theme parks. That distance is central to its brand story, positioning the county as a wild, unspoiled alternative rooted in America’s original cowboy culture rather than the more familiar postcard image of Florida tourism.
