Anabranch

Reimagining Alabama’s celebration of literature and the humanities

About The Project

In 2019, the Alabama Humanities Foundation tasked Markstein with creating a completely new name and visual identity for a reimagined version of the annual Alabama Book Festival (a three-day event held each April in Montgomery, Alabama).  

Wanting a name that was both meaningful and memorable, we chose “Anabranch”—defined as “a stream that leaves a river and enters it again further downstream”—as a nod to Alabama’s many beautiful streams and rivers. The new logo was then applied to tote bags, t-shirts, posters, book covers, bookmarks, banners, signage, and a comprehensive brand guide. Inspired by the Festival theme “Sharing Our Stories,” Markstein also created a unique illustration featured throughout the event. 

Established a distinctive and memorable identity for the reimagined festival, creating a cohesive brand experience across all touchpoints and helping position Anabranch as a refreshed, engaging celebration of literature and the humanities in Alabama.

Angular breakdown of the Anabranch mark showcasing the degrees titled to fit the letterforms A and B together.
Anabranch logo marks on 4 figure reversed backgrounds.
Anabranch stationery mockups showing front and back of a business card, envelope and a cover letter.
8 different colored bookmarks created to promote the anabranch campaign.
Close up cropped image of two different colored anabranch book covers. The text reads: Take this book. (No, really). - This cover wrap serves as your invitation to Anabranch: Alabama's Celebration of Literature and the Humanities. Anabranch will take place on April 11-13, 2019 in multiple venues accross Montgomery. The celebration is open to the public and will occur alongside the Alabama Book Festival. Join us as we share our stories and encourage you to share your own. Visit alabamahumanities.org/anabranch for more information.
Mockup of a book cover (front and back) created for the anabranch campaign.
White anabranch posters from 2019. They both have colorful illustrations on them and read: Anabranch 2019 - Alabama's Celebration of Literature and the Humanities.
Pop up banner showing the full anabranch logo and cropped images of the illustrations created for the event.
9 pages on a grid from the anabranch brandguide.
See More Case Studies