Stage 2 —

For my take on this issue, I really focused on the wayfinding. I wanted to create signage that was easy to follow along as well as easy to understand for people who do not speak English which is very common in our area. This is where I decided that creating iconography would be a great way to solve this.

The final icons for my team's take on the DMV rebrand consisted of bold sharp lines to match the typeface that was meant to relate to road lines along with two diamonds always inserted somewhere in the icon that stood for the two lowercase "i's" in Illinois.

Due to the great response from the Secretary of State on the icons, I decided to not only create these for the wayfinding but create them as a concept that can be in social media, posters, illustrations on buildings and trucks/cars. This meant creating icons that now could tell the story of Illinois. All icons were now related to signage, Illinois, and driving. And due to their strict rules on the angles the lines had to go and the sizing of them, you could easily combine these icons together to create a narrative. At the end we ended with over 100+ icons.

Stage 3 —

Our team’s final concept for the DMV rebrand was “Highways + Byways.” The idea centered around the 45-degree angle, a visual element often associated with driving—from the angles of intersections to directional signage and road layouts. This angle became the foundation of our design system and was integrated into the custom typeface, iconography, and overall visual language. By leaning into this geometric consistency, we created a brand identity that felt dynamic, directional, and distinctly tied to the driving experience, while also maintaining clarity and accessibility for users.