MoCo Visitors Guide

One of the largest counties in Maryland, Montgomery County has something to offer everyone: gourmet culinary experiences, unique museums, and outdoor adventures. Yet they had the smallest Visitors’ Guide in the state, with valuable content jam-packed into each page and getting lost in the crush of ads. The County also underwent a rebranding exercise in the midst of production on the last Visitors’ Guide that led to confusion and hasty “compliance.”

The County’s goals for the new iteration were to increase the size of the Guide to match its competitors and allow for more white space. They spent a lot of time rewriting copy to be more concise, clearer, and more enticing. To accomplish these goals, the County realized that they needed to hire a team with extensive publication experience, and we were brought on to make these goals a reality.

Ultimately, we were able to breathe new life into the Visitors’ Guide by reorganizing the content and implementing an edgier aesthetic, all while maintaining the County’s brand standards. At double the size, the content had space on each spread and was more easily read. The client wanted to focus on their agricultural sector, so we designed a multifaceted center spread that employs some advanced Photoshop techniques to make it stand out from the rest of the book. We also created the new “Tastemakers Trail” section of the guide, and the map and illustrations were such a hit that the County created a spinoff brochure with that content. The Montgomery County Visitors’ Guide is now available at hotels, kiosks, restaurants, and shops throughout the county.