Bank of the Bluegrass & Trust Co.
What’s the ultimate symbol of the “Bluegrass State” — bourbon, basketball, or horses? For the past 50 years, Bank of the Bluegrass & Trust Co. has been a trusted, locally-owned, and independent financial partner in the Lexington, KY community. The president, Bill Allen, and SVP/Chief Lending Officer, Tom Greinke, reached out to me about refreshing the logo and adding a mark to increase brand recognition and modernize their existing logo.
logo refresh process.
The logo refresh process for the bank was centered around its mission statement, which has guided the bank for over 50 years. Key stakeholders, including President Bill Allen and SVP/Chief Lending Officer Tom Greinke, worked with me to update the bank's visual identity, starting with the logo. We decided to modify the existing wordmark to be more approachable and emphasize “Bluegrass” only, as shown in the images below. This allowed the logo refresh to be softer since it wasn’t a huge aesthetic leap. Additionally, I drew a horse logo and emblem for versatility, created the color palette for illustrations, web graphics, and ads, and developed comprehensive brand guidelines. This strong branding ensured that the bank materials are cohesive.
BEFORE
AFTER
branding process.
To ensure the new branding resonated with the local community and customers, the bank held a launch party for employees, which was a huge success and made the customer rollout smooth. The community has warmly embraced the new horse logo, finding it fitting and reflective of the bank's heritage and the local region. In continued efforts since the rebrand, Bank of the Bluegrass asked me to help them implement the new branding across various touchpoints with ad campaigns, including an award-winning wealth management brochure, their 50th-anniversary celebration, a new tagline, "The Best Bank in Town," and a new proprietary product called Bluegrass Business Rewards.
outcome.
To ensure the new branding resonated with the local community and customers, the bank held a launch party for employees, which was a huge success and made the customer rollout smooth. The community has warmly embraced the new horse logo, finding it fitting and reflective of the bank's heritage and the local region. In continued efforts since the rebrand, Bank of the Bluegrass and Trust Co. asked me to help them implement the new branding across various touchpoints with ad campaigns, including an award-winning wealth management brochure, their 50th-anniversary celebration, a new tagline, "The Best Bank in Town," and a new proprietary product called Bluegrass Business Rewards.
