Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy

A Shared Vision for Our Waterfront

Established in 2021, the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy operates in partnership with the City of Buffalo to advance, maintain, and promote public use of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park.

The Conservancy’s mission is clear:

To advance Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park, creating a safe, vibrant, accessible, and inclusive waterfront park for generations to come.

From the beginning, community input shaped the park’s evolution through the Imagine LaSalle process. The brand needed to reflect that same spirit of collaboration, inclusivity, sustainability, and civic pride.

Our charge was to create:

• Research outcomes to inform branding work
• Clear mission, vision, and core values language
• A logo that resonated across Buffalo’s diverse communities
• A cohesive visual identity system
• Foundational brand guidelines to guide future communications
• Branded assets to support early public-facing moments

The website and park design were led by other teams. Our focus was the identity — the foundation everything else would stand on.

Start With Listening

We begin with research. Before sketching a single mark, we led community surveys and stakeholder interviews to understand:

• Community sentiment and expectations
• Concerns around accessibility and cost
• The diversity of park users and neighborhoods
• The relationship between the Conservancy and the City of Buffalo

One theme was clear: the park must remain welcoming, inclusive, and unmistakably public.

That insight shaped everything that followed.

From research, we developed the Conservancy’s verbal brand platform.

Core themes include:

• Community collaboration
• Sustainability and native agriculture
• Inclusiveness
• Long-term stewardship

Aligned Around Purpose

We always establish the brand platform and verbal identity before the visual identity. Words create alignment, design brings them to life.

Logo Identity and Visual System

With a clear verbal foundation in place, we moved into logo development.

The creative brief emphasized accessibility, water, nature, implied movement, and Buffalo’s architectural history while intentionally avoiding sports or personality-driven symbolism.

We presented three distinct concepts before refining the selected direction into a flexible logo system, including vertical, horizontal, monochrome, icon, and social lockups.

The final mark balances sun, shoreline, and greenspace elements in a simple, welcoming composition. No single feature dominates. The park belongs to everyone.

We then established a cohesive visual system, including:

• A vibrant, waterfront-inspired color palette
• A typography system centered on Filson Pro for approachability and personality
• Clear usage standards to protect brand integrity
• Iconography and scalable applications

Each phase informed the next: research shaped language; language shaped identity; and identity shaped expression.

Collateral for a Civic Moment

From brand foundation, we moved into implementation.

Phase two included branded collateral developed to support the Conservancy’s groundbreaking ceremony.

We created:

• A branded podium sign to support press coverage
• Directional lawn signage for clear, welcoming wayfinding
• A large-scale ground installation to anchor the event visually
• A social media selfie frame to encourage community engagement
• Environmental graphics to create a festive, celebratory atmosphere

When civic leaders, community members, and the press gathered to mark the park’s future, the brand stood out clearly and confidently.

Conclusion

Ralph Wilson Park represents a powerful investment in Buffalo’s waterfront and neighborhoods. It reflects a belief that public space should be vibrant, inclusive, and accessible to all.

We are proud to have helped establish the verbal and visual identity of the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy at such an important moment in Buffalo’s history.