The National Landing BID is refreshing its brand, rolling out a new look aimed at spotlighting the area’s amenities, events and connectivity.
The organization is debuting a new logo and a hummingbird mascot intended to reflect the area’s commercial transformation, plus a new tagline: “The everyday unexpected.”
“It captures the contrast between why people come — a great career, access to multimodal transportation, a sense of safety — with why they stay: the excitement, the events, the urban community; for a bike race in an underground garage, live jazz in the park, murals alongside mid-century architecture, memorable meals and new restaurants, a community that never stops inventing,” Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president of the Business Improvement District, said at the organization’s annual meeting yesterday (Wednesday).
The new logo, which features two thick, rounded lines, “celebrates the organic curves” of the area’s environment, including the arches at Reagan National and the bends of Met Park.
The hummingbird, meanwhile, “is woven into National Landing’s physical form in the shape of the BID’s boundaries, the flights rising from DCA, the constant flow of people at street level.”
“It also represents what National Landing aspires to be: a place of constant movement, brilliance, and everyday moments that stay with you longer,” Gabriel said.
Over the next few weeks, the BID is expected to debut a new website, updated community banners and other marketing assets in alignment with the rebrand. The changes come as the BID, which began life as the Crystal City BID in 2006, celebrates its 20-year anniversary.
The BID partnered with DNCO — a branding agency known for its work in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood and San Francisco — to lead the charge on the rebrand. The BID characterized the area as being at a “rare inflection point,” following years of physical and economic development.
“National Landing needs a brand that stands confidently alongside its commercial and economic narrative, while also expressing something distinct — the way this place feels, the everyday reasons people choose to spend time here to connect, belong, and feel pride,” Gabriel said.
Throughout the process, DNCO completed various site visits, workshops and conversations with residents and local business owners, among other stakeholders. Gabriel said the process aimed to challenge some assumptions about the area.
“In our research, people said ‘beige,’ ‘bureaucratic,’ ‘Amazon’; simply, ‘Where is that?’ These are not our words, just to be clear,” Gabriel said. “But everyone in this room can attest, the true experience here is so much more.”
The BID also felt its brand was missing an emphasis on the area’s walkability, green space, connectivity, safety and events.
“Those are our differentiators, and they define daily life,” Gabriel said.
The BID’s last major rebrand took place in 2020, when the organization expanded to include Pentagon City and Potomac Yard.
Initially called the Crystal City BID, the group got its start in 2006 as the neighborhood dealt with the repercussions of the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), which led to the loss of around 17,000 federal jobs and 4 million square feet of vacant office space. The BID was created to help advance the county’s subsequent Crystal City Sector Plan, which called for 16 million square feet of development, along with new housing, retail and public spaces.
BID leaders celebrated that history last night alongside Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti, Board member Susan Cunningham and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, along with its partners at Gould Property Company, JBG Smith and the National Innovation Quarter.
