DDOT Rebrand & Bus Design

Turning Detroit city buses into a message about hope.

  • The look of public transportation goes a long way to defining the mood of a city. Our friends in the city asked us to help think through a new logo and identity system for the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT). And we got to redesign the buses! For the logo, we worked in collaboration with designer and typographer, Graham Clifford.

    Our custom drawn double D conveys positive motion, a connective loop, and better all-round service to the community–with an added dot as a tip of the driver’s cap to the original 1974 mark. 

    For the buses, the green is based on the Spirit of Detroit statue outside of City Hall, with the radiant lines implying energy, progress, and positive momentum. In the end, it's a message about hope.

Close-up of the Michigan War Memorial, featuring a green sculpture of a soldier holding a golden staff with radiating lines in front of a marble wall with inscriptions.
Empty white background with no objects or details.
Black and white photograph of a scene with a large dog sitting on a couch, and an older man standing beside it, in a cozy room with shelves of books and picture frames.
Green background with a dark circle containing the number '1.' and the text 'New Route Numbers' below.
Logo with a stylized letter D and a period, in light green on a dark green background.
A teal and white city bus with the sign ConnectTEN parked in a lot under a blue sky. Part of another vehicle with teal and white stripes is visible on the left.
A bus with a vibrant teal and white sunburst pattern, featuring a silhouette of a man reaching for the sun, on a parking lot under a partly cloudy sky.
Logo with a stylized letter D and a dot on a light green background.
Black and white illustration of a praying mantis.
Three smartphones showing social media posts about Detroit transportation, including new buses, a bus with a graphic wrap, and a table with staff from the Detroit Department of Transportation.
A green city bus on a street with tall buildings and traffic lights in the background, displaying route number 5 to Lafayette.