Expressing the Ethos of a Beloved Public Space

Brand Strategy

Since 1980, Central Park Conservancy has preserved and protected one of the world’s most iconic public spaces. While Central Park is known and loved by many, the role of its guardian—the Conservancy—was not as widely recognized.

In partnership with the Conservancy’s leadership, global design firm Pentagram, and her team at LaPlaca Cohen, Diane led a strategic brand positioning process that culminated in a contemporary and lively new identity. Through stakeholder interviews, archival research, and a series of workshops with the Conservancy’s leadership and staff emerged new opportunities for this once-insular stewarding organization to start a long-lasting dialogue with the public. Central Park Conservancy’s reinvigorated brand identity is a reclamation of the Park’s founding purpose—to be an empowering shared space open to all walks of life and a living embodiment of the healing power of nature.

The resulting strategy included a new brand purpose, tone of voice, key messages, public engagement tactics, and a new core narrative for the organization. Diane also advised on Pentagram’s visual identity process, which included a new logo, color palette, graphic design assets, and brand guidelines.

Experience the re-brand here.