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See You Out Here
A trusted but tired American company reinventing for the road ahead
Packaging
Brand Identity
Animation
Collateral
Graphic Design
Posters
As North America’s largest travel center, Pilot fuels the transportation of America’s goods and services. Trusted by Pro 18-Wheelers who drive over 90% of the revenue, Pilot became just another diesel truck stop. To diversify their business model and fuel growth, Pilot needed to attract 4-wheel Road Trippers, a $500mil opportunity in Summer 2024 alone.
Reinvention was calling, Pilot had to signal a shift. Beyond a safe place to stop, clean restrooms and all the coffee and M&Ms you need, Pilot welcomes those who choose the road
Pro Truck Drivers and Road Trippers have different experiences but a shared passion. Whether it's a trucker delivering goods cross-country or a family hand-surfing and singing on a road trip, they drive to feel alive. The freedom, camaraderie, and joy of the highway is a calling.
See You Out Here
See You Out Here
It’s a Platform Idea and a call to the open road. To help Pilot stand tall and stand out without alienating their core Pros, we turned this shared ethos into a refreshed identity, a modern and welcoming visual and verbal expression for the brand.
Results
The identity became an invitation by leaning into the high of the highway
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Inspired by the elements found along a North American journey, odd roadside signs and shapes became frames that capture the candid, intimate moments created when people find themselves in wide-open vistas.
Pilot’s logo, an inconvenient reality given it’s ubiquity across 800+ locations, required a face lift subtle enough not to disrupt but substantial enough to become an iconic symbol of the road.
Photography highlights three perspectives: distant horizons that evoke freedom, near-arrival moments that build anticipation, and up-close shots that showcase human connection.
A bold yet approachable color palette of roadside reds, whites, and blacks is complemented by vibrant accent hues to stand out in the category.
A variable font captures the legibility of far signage with the warmth of rounded corners to convey safety and a welcoming vibe. Verbal design ensures Pilot speaks with a roadwise tone and an inviting wink of humor.
A system spreading joy to over 800 locations and 1.3 million customers a day
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The refresh of a brand trapped in time transformed Pilot into a timeless, optimistic lifestyle brand that you can belong to when on the road.
See the Pilot Travel Centers campaign work that brought the Platform Idea and new identity to market, turning a stop into a vibe.
“I chose Hyphenated to modernize our brand and rally our internal team with work that had big energy and high cultural resonance.”
- Adrienne Ingoldt, CMO
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