Despite most of us being raised to become people who don't cast judgments, apply stereotypes, or even just think that we are better than others when it comes to being proud of the state we live in, it's hard not to. As someone born and raised in Alabama, I'm incredibly self-aware of the instant judgments that people outside the state cast on me. And, yes, I'm vaccinated, and no, I don't say "y'all."
And while it's easy to make conclusions bereft of facts and heavy on the bias, Keith Fleck, a senior design manager at Microsoft, innovatively branded all of the states within the United States of America, not by his personal views, but by drawing inspiration from the most recognizable brands headquartered in each state.
Fleck navigated the often familiar typefaces and color palettes from the brands to create recognizable logos for each state and basically developed a case study on brand history across America.
The project is titled "The Corporate States of America," and you can find the entire set of logos and a poster on his micro-site. "It was fun to 'hack' each one, finding the right fonts and playing with elements to bring them to life," he writes of the project. "Some look great on their own, and you can recognize the original brand immediately, whereas some are a bit harder to determine for someone who hasn't had any touchpoints with them. Enjoy!"
From Alabama appropriately shown with the Region's green color and serif typeface to Colorado taking inspiration from the Coors' logo, it's fascinating to see how one brand can accurately represent an entire state. Additionally, as you scroll through each design, you'll discover new fun facts; for example, Coca-Cola was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1892, while Ben & Jerry's has been around since 1978, headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont.
So while stopping the stereotyping of different states might be a wee bit difficult, Keith Fleck is proving that maybe, just maybe, sometimes our judgments aren't so far off from the truth; we all knew that Colorado was full of beer lovers already, didn't we?
This project is simply a beautiful way of representing the land we call home: Corporate America.
