By the early 1890’s the rapidly expanding city of Corsicana had outgrown its water supply. Drilling began in 1894, with the aim of tapping a shallow artesian well in the area. Instead of water, they hit a large pocket of oil and gas, which was the first significant discovery of oil west of the Mississippi River. This led to Texas’ first oil boom.
In 1976, Corsicana leaders determined that an annual event should be established commemorating the town’s rich oil history and its impact on the community’s development. The first “Derrick Days” was held that year and every spring since, growing in size and adding new activities each year.
When I joined the Derrick Days team, recreating the logo was first on my list. It had been created years ago and was starting to look a little outdated. In addition to this, none of the branding stuck to a style guide, so this allowed me to start with a clean slate and give the event an actual identity.
Since the event celebrated the town’s history, I wanted to incorporate old Corsicana related images in the promotional posters hung around town and posted online. The funnest part is, every poster includes images of things that somewhat relate to the specific event it is advertising.
The next year I wanted to keep the branding similar, but make it different enough to differentiate from events in the past. I stuck with old images, but swapped collages for illustrations. In the years since, the committee has chose to stick to the brighter colors and and more modern/illustrated look and feel.
The following year, a new style was adopted by the committee. As a nod to the history of Corsicana, images were pulled from old newspapers, yearbooks, and magazines.
