BRAND STORY: The Whitefish Trail

Deliverables:
+Creative Direction
+Copy Writing
+Signage Design
+Trail Map Design
+Project Management

Background:
Established in 2010, The Whitefish Trail was created to add recreation options for hikers, bikers, runners, skiers and equestrians around the town of Whitefish, Montana. The trail, which as of 2016 includes 10 trailheads accessing over 36 miles of natural surface trails, is the cornerstone of the work of the Whitefish Legacy Partners as well as other partnering organizations.

Challenge:
The Whitefish Trail was in need of updated trail signage and maps to help users navigate the continuously-growing trail system. The signage and maps had to be clear and easy-to-read for the wide variety of user groups that frequent the trails. Additionally, the trail network spanned across many different types of land which required obtaining approval on all collateral by multiple different organizations.

Approach:
As frequent users of The Whitefish Trail, Wheelie Creative was thrilled to undertake this project! We utilized a fun, fresh approach to the design and layout of the signage while working with Whitefish Legacy Partners to meet the needs and gain approval across the many different organizations overseeing the project all while maintaining accuracy. Through the process of experimenting with different design elements and layouts, we were able to develop a map that presented a wide variety of different types of information including an overall map, detailed inset maps, trail distances, legends and other trail info in a format that was easy to read and appealed to the many different trail users that would be accessing the area. We carried over design elements from the maps and took them a step further for trail signage. Illustrations of natural elements such as trees and wildlife were tied into the informational and wayfinding signage to present important information to the public in an enjoyable way.

Results:
Since taking on the project, we have created hundreds of signs as well as multiple maps, street signs, badges, posters, banners and shirts and we continue to receive praise for the fun, visually appealing design year-after-year. The Whitefish Trail is still under development with new trails planned for construction over the next few years. The current goal is to connect trails circumnavigating Whitefish Lake and connecting into the trail system on Whitefish Mountain Resort which will result in approximately 20 miles of new trail for the Whitefish Community.

In Their Words:
“We hired Wheelie to first revise our Whitefish Trail map then to revamp our trailhead maps, and now we have WIT - our Whitefish Trail Learning Center owl. We are so pleased that we get to claim some of Lisa and her team’s creativity for our own. Their work for us has been more than we could have hoped for - the Wheelie Crew worked hard to match our existing branding and have offered us an additional flare that we knew we needed but didn't know how to make happen. We look forward to doing more and more creative things on the Whitefish Trail with Lisa and Wheelie Creative.”
-Heidi Van Everen Executive Director, Whitefish Legacy Partners