Connecting the communities of Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina, this multi-use trail will offer a unique opportunity to explore the region’s natural beauty. This project establishes a cohesive trail identity that the two towns can proudly embrace and promote.
Conceptual
Trail Signage
Design
The design goes beyond navigation, serving as an extension of the Ecusta Trail identity.
Conceptual trail signage is thoughtfully crafted to enrich the visitor experience. By incorporating rock and oxidized metal, the design harmonizes with the rugged, natural environment while honoring the industrial history of the railway trail bed.
Versatile and durable, this design will usher the corridor into a new era of community health and connectivity.
Brand
Identity
Capturing the essence of connection—between history, nature, and community, is no easy task. Through design, color, and texture, the Ecusta brand brings the story of a historic rail line to life.
The mark resembles railroad tracks and employs arrow patterns to imply forward motion, while a custom type face evokes the gilded age of rail in America.
Two shades of green are used; a darker shade for the old growth forests that the trail passes through, while a lighter green signals new growth for the future.
Brand Assets
This versatile brand package considers everything from trail signage to merchandise, and reflects the spirit of the Ecusta across all touch points.
As always, our goal is to craft an identity that locals are proud to own, and that visitors are excited to share.
Brand Strategy
At the heart of the Ecusta Trail is the melding of history and nature.
The brand strategy positions the trail as a gateway to adventure and community cohesion. By focusing on the trail’s historical significance, cultural heritage, and stunning natural landscapes, the brand aims to inspire exploration, foster community engagement, and encourage environmental stewardship.
The Ecusta Trail brand invites users to choose an adventure of connection, growth, and shared experiences.
Community Engagement
In order to be truly reflective of the community, our team took on the challenge of receiving input from a wide array of stakeholders and entities.
Our team biked local trails and hiked a section of the railroad grade to understand the trail corridor. We hosted community meetings where stakeholders were encouraged to be active participants in shaping the future of this beloved trail.
Together, two towns will foster a shared vision for conservation, community pride, and sustainable economic growth, ensuring the Ecusta Trail enhances the community for generations to come.
Destination by Design partnered with Friends of Ecusta to build a cohesive brand identity for the Ecusta Trail, a historic rail line transforming into a multi-use recreational corridor connecting Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina. The mark resembles railroad tracks with arrow patterns implying forward motion, paired with a custom typeface evoking the gilded age of American rail, giving both towns a shared identity to embrace and promote.
In North Carolina, community branding and greenway development come together especially well on rail-to-trail projects, where the corridor’s industrial history has to coexist with its new recreational identity. Ecusta Trail reflects that pairing, using conceptual trail signage crafted from rock and oxidized metal to harmonize with the rugged Blue Ridge landscape while honoring the historic railway bed the trail follows.
A shared trail brand can turn two separate towns into partners with a common vision. Ecusta Trail’s brand strategy positions the corridor as a gateway to adventure and community cohesion, using the trail’s historical significance and natural beauty to foster conservation, community pride, and sustainable economic growth for both Hendersonville and Brevard, informed by community meetings and firsthand exploration of the rail corridor by the DbD team.
Community branding is the process of developing a visual identity, brand strategy, and signage system that captures a place’s character and unites stakeholders around a shared vision. For Ecusta Trail, that meant a brand built on two shades of green, a darker tone for the old growth forests the trail passes through and a lighter shade signaling new growth, extended across signage, merchandise, and every other visitor touchpoint.
The Ecusta Trail runs between Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina, through the cradle of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western part of the state. Its route along a former railway corridor gives visitors a chance to explore the region’s natural beauty while connecting two communities that will share in the trail’s economic and recreational benefits for generations to come.
