Walking Through History: Designing Vergennes Partnership’s Signature Walking Tour

Print materials remain a crucial part of many organizations’ marketing and communication strategies, even in our digital age. Maintaining brand consistency in print also ensures your marketing efforts work together seamlessly, whether online or offline. 

"Collaborating with LONDONmiddlebury on the Vergennes Historic Site Walking Tour was a dream! We were first introduced to the team when they were involved in a digital project that included additional Addison County players. From concept to font selection, selection of photographs and agonizing proof reading, the playbill-size piece has delighted locals as well as visitors from afar.

LONDONmiddlebury’s attention to detail was second to none. It had been a long time since I’d worked with an outside marketing firm and they proved to be the right choice. Professional and engaging, sensitive to our needs and always kind, many hands were involved in the creation of the walking tour and their team added the panache, just right for Vergennes – the Little City with the Big Heart."

— Julie Basol, Executive Director at the Vergennes Partnership

Creating a designed guide that excites

The Vergennes Partnership is a nonprofit based in Addison County, Vermont. It was founded in 1999 when Vergennes earned the status as an official Vermont State Designated Downtown. The organization focuses on enhancing the economic viability of the city and preserving the beauty and character of its downtown. It plays an essential role for Vergennes to keep its Designated Downtown status. 

The Vergennes Partnership connected with LONDONmiddlebury to create the final, professionally-produced version of their Vergennes Historic Walking Tour. This is a printed guide that walks visitors through the history of Vergennes and its most iconic sites. 

Incorporating interesting history with branded elements

The Vergennes Partnership provided the copy and photos for us to begin work on the design. We wanted to focus on capturing the interesting history of downtown Vergennes while incorporating the colors, fonts, and energy of the Vergennes Partnership brand. The design included a hand-drawn historic sites walking tour map with precise locations of the historical sites. The map is accurately drawn to scale, applying best practices for the placement of location markers and making it easily digestible for viewers. 

Once we completed a first draft of the design, we made adjustments based on copy and photo changes through an iterative revision process with the Walking Tour Committee’s stakeholders. In its final version, the Walking Tour includes all of the essential elements the Vergennes Partnership wanted to feature.

Impact: a seamless, branded design

We delivered a beautiful, captivating designed Walking Tour that shows the exciting history Vergennes has to offer. It’s available on the Vergennes Partnership website for virtual viewing. Hard copies of the walking tour exists in many downtown Vergennes locations, from M&T Bank and City Hall to lu•lu ice cream and the Bixby Memorial Free Library.

Members of the Vergennes community are using the Walking Tour to further engage locals and visitors alike; students at Vergennes Union Middle School are seizing the opportunity to learn more about the city on field trips, and the Vergennes Historical Society is using it as a resource. VTrans is using the guide to educate riders about a historical Vergennes bridge, and local bars are testing locals’ knowledge of Vergennes on trivia nights.

We loved working with this local Addison County nonprofit to connect with our roots and dive deep into all the amazing things we love about Vergennes. 

Take a look at the digital version of the Vergennes Historic Walking Tour on their website, and pick up a physical copy when you’re around Vergennes!

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