A note from Director Jennifer Ortiz
After six months of design research and working with our Marketing & Communications team, we are delighted to reveal the Utah Historical Society’s (formerly Utah Division of State History) new logo and brand identity!
The new design fulfills the strategic goals of providing a new visual direction for the Utah Historical Society (UHS), one honoring our organizational past while looking ahead to our bright future. With our recent name change from the Utah Division of State History to the Utah Historical Society and the addition of the future Museum of Utah, our next chapter will be more visible, integrated, and hopefully accessible with our physical presence on Utah’s State Capitol grounds beginning in 2026.
What does our new logo represent?
Visually, it evokes weaving or sewing and the image of bringing materials together. Symbolically, the logo weaves different stories and perspectives together, which is exactly what good history does; it highlights perspectives from a variety of voices, to help us have a better understanding and context of one story. We also are intentionally weaving in our new logo for the Museum of Utah (coming soon) to show we are one in the same–visiting the museum IS visiting the Utah Historical Society in the future and opportunities available within the museum are an extension of UHS.
We brought in reinforcements to help develop our new look and feel along the way. Our team had the privilege of working extensively with a design class at the University of Utah to assist with design and field research and to help us identify mood boards, look comparatively across the public history sector, and bring a much needed Gen-Z perspective on how to appeal to younger audiences in the future. A huge thank you to Elpitha Tsoutsounakis and her spring Research Methods class for assisting us in this journey!
Determining Utah Historical Society’s look and feel
As part of the rebrand process, our team identified how we wanted to look and feel moving forward. Staff and board identified wanting to feel more modern and approachable and making history accessible to as many audiences as possible. You will begin to see this in visual branding on social media, newsletters, and emails with the use of a brighter color palette and its strategic placement in printed materials and on the web. Purple was intentionally chosen as a melding of two colors–red and blue– and is often associated with being an inviting color for many.
Ultimately the goal is for all Utahns to be able to see themselves reflected in the Utah Historical Society’s new brand!
Thank you to everyone who helped along the way, from our board members to students and everyone in between, this process involved many voices and I am thrilled with the outcome. Stay tuned for a full rollout of the design which you will begin to see in many spaces moving forward!
-Jennifer Ortiz, Director