The holidays have always been a time for families and friends to gather and celebrate. Traditions, the tried-and-true, and those just getting started are happening in hometowns and cities across the country.
If creating a unique sense of place for your town is on your to-do list, you’re not alone. So how exactly do you make this happen? How do you communicate ‘friendly’ ‘approachable’ and ‘welcoming’?
A sense of place is important, as it’s an emotional bond developed by residents and visitors to a particular location. Investing time and resources in your community with the goal of improving the overall appearance will pay off for businesses, residents and their guests.
Let Swirling Silks create a sense of place for your city
What Are the Benefits to Creating a Sense of Place?
The benefits of creating a sense of place for your community include increasing the 3 Vs: Value, Visitors, and Visibility. An area that welcomes, embraces and “info-tains” their guests is likely to become rated and recognized among others, including potential new audiences. To ensure the word gets out, look to have a dedicated person broadcast events, happenings and goings-on in your community.
Tell us about your Sense of Place branding needs
Swirling Silks welcomes the challenge of creating a sense of place for local small business branding, too. That effort to strengthen appearances and approachability applies to residents and business owners (not just cities and towns).
How Can My Community Create a Sense of Place?
As with any project, having a plan and a budget is a great place to begin. Honoring traditions, expectations, ‘must haves’ and timelines is important for all whether you’re a team of one or a committee of many.
Swirling Silks is your resource to get it done. Our expertise has customers returning year after year for such community branding services as:
- Light pole banners that add life to your streets. With or without metallic accents -sometimes it is fun to go a little-over-the-top.
- Flags that celebrate a sense of belonging.
- Neighborhood graphics to rally around.
- Storefront signage that attracts attention.
- Main Street revitalization programs.
- Special events.
- Dedications.
- Information and wayfinding signage.
What Are Sense of Place Examples?
There is no cookie-cutter template for creating a sense of place. Each community is unique, and so should the feeling it evokes when think about it. A few sense of place examples include:
- History and Tradition – think Philadelphia, St. Augustine FL or civil war battlefield towns for capturing their history and acknowledging what makes them worth visiting.
- Celebrity Status – Los Angeles for entertainment, Seneca Falls NY for movie references, Dayton OH for sports museum
- Lifestyle – Does your town cater to a particular population because of how they think, behave and want to be around? Think Spring Break in AZ, adult getaways like Key West and other areas based on religious, business or sexual affinity.
- Nature – National and state parks, outdoor recreational opportunities and national landmarks are all areas people want to visit and spend time and money.
Contact Swirling Silks if you are looking for more examples or a branding expert’s advice on creating a Sense of Place for your town or city.
Top 5 Ideas to Create a Successful Sense of Place
- Know the culture looking to appeal to- become familiar with the language, festival and food people will want to experience while visiting your destination.
- Is your point of interest unique to your town. Where are the areas you can highlight?
- Public spaces. Do yours allow for recreation, social interaction, or personal reflection? If so, how do we draw attention to them?
- Commerce. If people are visiting, they want to visit cafes, restaurants, shops, markets, and nightlife. How can you better direct them to these locations?
- History and Heritage. What traditions, historical buildings or artifacts is your area known for?
Want more suggestions on how to make successful town branding: call Swirling Silks.
Who Can Help Create a Sense of Place for My Town?
Signs, banners, flags and specialty graphics highlight the many charms of a destination. The experts at Swirling Silks can help you create a sense of place for your town! We’ve collaborated with communities across the country to help them showcase their individual personality and spirit with top-notch graphics.
Our products include everything to express your branded event from the desktop to stage. Let us help you create a ‘Wow’ factor for your sense of place for those who are full-timers as well as those who visit. Imagine visitors becoming world-wide ambassadors for your community! Get started now by contacting us.
