by Doug MacGunnigle, WPRO
Rhode Island graphic designer Missy Hardesty wasn’t a fan of the state’s new “Warmer and Cooler” design. “It hurt my eyeballs,” she told WPRO’s Tara Granahan on Wednesday afternoon. Instead of complaining about it, however, Hardesty spent about 10 minutes designing her “Rhode Island: Sea to Believe” graphic, and posted it to social media on Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday it had been shared over 16,000 times.
“It’s crazy,” Missy told Tara. “I would have never imagined. It’s just something I did on a whim. I decided to try my hand at it, and overnight it went crazy.”
“Warmer and cooler? This is my response to the new branding campaign revealed for Rhode Island tourism. Having lived in Rhode Island my whole life, this branding means a great deal to me! Rhode Island = the ocean, and I wanted to convey that in this design. “Sea” to believe is a play on words – you have to see RI and its beautiful beaches to believe its beauty,” says Hardesty, who currently works for marketing and graphic design agency 401Consulting.com.
Missy Hardesty’s design is available on a t-shirt at her teespring shop HERE.
Listen to her full conversation with Tara Granahan below.
