GSI - Adventures Unbound - Unifying 47+ Properties Under One Consumer-Facing Brand

Work model: Fully Remote
Partners: External branding agency + in-house creative team
Team: In-house team of 4 designers (led by me)

Overview

Founded in 1917, Guest Services manages hospitality experiences across a broad portfolio, including beloved national and state parks. Despite its reputation, Guest Services remained largely unknown to the public. To step out from behind the scenes and connect its outdoor destinations and experiences under a single umbrella, we created Adventures Unbound as a consumer-facing brand that brings “legendary hospitality” to today’s outdoor enthusiasts.

The Challenge

The core challenge was building a master brand that could unify 47+ distinct properties with different geographic locations, offerings, and guest audiences, while still feeling cohesive. We needed one brand that could flex across destinations and demographics, yet consistently deliver the same emotional takeaway: wherever a guest goes, it should feel like a connected experience within one recognizable brand world.

Brand Foundation

Adventures Unbound was built on a clear strategic foundation:

Mission: Enable guests to discover the wonders of nature, and rediscover themselves, by connecting them with special places and people.

Promise: Your Personal Connection to the Unforgettable Outdoors.

Positioning: A personal connection to iconic destinations and hidden gems, where uncomplicated enjoyment creates unforgettable memories.

This framework gave us the clarity to make consistent creative decisions while accommodating wide variety across properties.

My Role

As Art Director, I was deeply involved in creative decision-making and agency collaboration, ensuring the new brand stayed true to strategy while being practical to deploy at scale.

I led and contributed to:

Co-leading creative direction with the external agency, from early concept to system definition

Aligning brand tone, audience intent, and messaging with stakeholders

Translating the identity into real-world applications across properties

Leading internal reviews, feedback loops, and approvals

Guiding an in-house team of 4 designers to execute consistently across channels

Creative Direction

We treated Adventures Unbound as a flexible framework rather than a rigid identity. The goal was to create a brand that feels consistent while adapting to diverse destinations and guest types.

Brand pillars we designed around:

Enthusiastic Service (expert, person-to-person hospitality)

Uncomplicated Enjoyment (easygoing access to memorable experiences)

Everyday Unforgettable (both iconic moments and hidden-gem joy)


Brand personality we protected in every execution:

Energetic & Personable

Simple & Easygoing

Warm & Wise


The System

Adventures Unbound was designed with distinct, ownable brand cues that scale across destinations and channels:

Identity + Visual Language

Logo system with an icon reminiscent of a map pin/window to adventure, paired with a friendly geometric sans-serif wordmark.

Typography: Proxima Nova as the primary typeface; Rogliano used for subheads to create a welcoming, distinctive voice.

Color palette: grounded in a deep “Forest” green, with nature-inspired accents (Stone, Clay, Goldenrod, Graphite, Lake, Bark).

Graphic Elements (used to connect the portfolio)

Connecting Trail: a signature element symbolizing the connection between guests, their experiences, and the outdoors; designed to weave through people and moments (not landscapes alone).

Coordinates: used as both an aesthetic detail and functional caption, tying visuals to real locations.

Topographic pattern: adds organic texture that can sit quietly behind layouts or become bold in social applications.

Photography Direction

Photography is joyful, natural, and active, capturing authentic, candid-feeling moments. It reflects diversity and can include small human elements even in vast nature spaces. Visuals are edited to reflect the brand palette (e.g., reds leaning toward Clay, water toward Lake).

Key Deliverables

This system was designed to be used daily across many properties and channels, so we built practical, scalable assets:

Brand guidelines and rollout standards

Seasonal and integrated campaign toolkits

Social-first systems (Reels, Stories, posts, ads)

Web/email creative and landing page components

Print collateral and signage applications

Production-ready files with print/prepress oversight (specs, file prep, color accuracy, vendor coordination)

Featured Execution

Florida State Parks Partnership Campaign (Print + OOH)

This campaign piece demonstrates how the Adventures Unbound system expands into bold, consumer-facing storytelling while staying consistent with the master brand’s tone, photography style, and visual language. It shows how one unified brand can still spotlight unique destinations and partnerships while preserving a cohesive “brand world.”

Outcome

Adventures Unbound created a clearer connection across a diverse portfolio, strengthening recognition and consistency across properties. Most importantly, it supported the intended guest experience: regardless of which property someone visits, the brand helps them feel part of one connected world of outdoor experiences, rooted in uncomplicated enjoyment and unforgettable memories.

What I’m Proud Of

Building a unified master brand across 47+ properties is as much leadership and clarity as it is design. This work required aligning strategy, agency collaboration, and scalable systems, then translating them into real campaigns that teams could execute consistently across a wide range of destinations and audiences.