Mead85
Mead Botanical Garden is 47 acres of urban wild in the middle of Winter Park, and in 2025 it turned 85.
- Brand Strategy
- Identity Design
- Print Design
- Event Graphics
- Naming
Mead Botanical Garden is 47 acres of urban wild in the middle of Winter Park, and in 2025 it turned 85. Executive Director Cynthia Hasenau wanted the anniversary to do two jobs at once: honor the history, and remind a fast-developing city that the garden still matters.
The problem
An anniversary mark can read like a sticker. This one had to hold 85 years of civic history, work on a stage backdrop and a donor board, and still look like something made this year. Attention in Central Florida is split between new development, new civic projects and every other nonprofit on the calendar.
The mark
The 8 and the 5 interlock as vines do, drawn from the orchids and pathways on the property. Strength through connection, which is how the garden was founded and how it has been kept.
The palette and type
The blue comes from the linen paper Theodore L. Mead used for his orchid illustrations, pulled from the archive and matched. Type is Trade Gothic, released in 1948, close enough to Mead's era to feel right and plain enough to read from across a lawn.
Archival postcards were restored and upscaled, then printed across the collateral and signage, so the history arrives as texture under your hand.
What we delivered
Anniversary logo and lockups.
On-site signage: stage backdrop, welcome banners, directional flags, donor boards.
A type system and guidelines the garden uses year round.
Print collateral built from the historic postcards.
What happened
More than 80 guests came. The mayor of Winter Park declared March 29 Mead Garden Day. Cars from the garden's founding decade lined the welcome area, and performers broke into dance and song as Cynthia prepared to retire after years of rebuilding the place.
The garden's new master plan was unveiled that afternoon, presented in the new identity. The 85th was the hinge between what Mead has been and what it is about to become.
Client: Mead Garden Inc.
Sector: Nonprofit
Disciplines: Brand strategy, identity, print, event graphics, naming
Team: Cynthia Hasenau, Valerie Fetterolf, Emily Smith, Michael Luis Diaz
