One Brand, Many Roles
Finger Lakes Gateway approached us needing an identity that could represent everything under Schuyler County’s economic development umbrella at once: SCOPED’s direct financing programs, the IDA’s tax abatement authority, a business park, an entrepreneur support program in Schuypreneur, and a growing site-data resource for investors and developers evaluating the county.
Our challenge was building a mark serious enough to hold up in front of site selectors and investors comparing counties nationally, while flexible enough to carry that many programs without splintering into five different logos.
Built in Layers
Rather than illustrate one single idea, our strategy was to build a mark that could layer meaning, the way the organization itself layers financing, land, data, and mentorship into one coordinated effort. As we developed the concept, our challenge was making sure that layering read as intentional, not decorative.
A Symbol for Growth
The final identity centers on a concentric, sunrise-like mark built from five defined layers: the outer arcs represent the eleven Finger Lakes, a ring stands for community, another for economy, radiating rays for partnership, and a solid center for the bright future the organization is working toward.
It’s built on a color palette of dark green, bright green, yellow-orange, and bright blue, paired with a typography system built on Arpona Medium, Arpona Semi Bold, and Arpona Semi Bold Italic.
A simplified secondary “FLX” mark carries the same rays and center dot into tighter spaces, apparel, pins, and badges, where the full lockup doesn’t fit.
Designed for What Comes Next
That system now carries Finger Lakes Gateway across signage in downtown Watkins Glen, letterhead and business cards, flxgateway.com, and its social channels, alongside promotional items for outreach and events.
Since the rebrand, the 51-acre Schuyler County Business Park it represents became New York’s first REDI Sites Gold-certified industrial site — only the fourth Gold-certified site in the entire country — and Finger Lakes Gateway leveraged that status to earn a spot in the federal SelectUSA “Invest in Rural America” initiative, pitching the site directly to international investors at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in National Harbor, Maryland.
