Hollywood is known around the world as the heartbeat of the entertainment industry, North Hollywood is known for its expansive arts district, and West Hollywood is known for its night life… but what about East Hollywood? East Hollywood is an historic section of La-La Land with a tale all its own, but the recognition that East Hollywood exists, and just where it is, has gone largely untold.
When we first starting working with the East Hollywood BID, we knew that name recognition and identifying markers would be a critical part of establishing the region’s identity. We ourselves had been visiting East Hollywood for years — without realizing that it was East Hollywood! Like others, we confused the area with Los Feliz or Silver Lake. We began with a few interactive sessions with key stakeholders, which helped us determine that the key identifiers for the region are “Fun,” Funky,” and “Smart.” After all, what is East Hollywood, with its boutique stores, homegrown eateries, and arts-meet-science focus, if not fun, funky and smart? The BID’s board of directors agreed. (Although later we all agreed to substitute “artsy” for “funky” because we wanted to highlight the area’s focus on the arts.)
Once we had the identifiers, we started in on messaging and a logo design, resulting in widespread sharing of the new logo online and in publications, and the street pole campaign (see below). All of these elements are designed to build recognition of both the BID and its important work, and of East Hollywood — and, of course, to inform visitors and locals that they’re in a uniquely creative area of Los Angeles.
Here are some of the banners, spotted out in the wild:
