Revitalizing Rural Communities
People are getting older, and the younger generations are moving to college and finding out that the urban communities have way more to offer for them then the rural communities once did. Young people are not coming back to their rural hometowns because there is nothing to come back to, nothing but an old run-down bar in some of these towns. For my thesis, I am exploring how we can get these small rural communities up and thriving again. Can design help create unique spaces in rural communities? If we take these amazing small companies and give them a little face lift by combining modern cultural desires with small town rural morals will they become more appreciated by younger people?
For this exhibition, I revitalized a rural community, that has a lot to offer, but just not sure how to promote the amazing things they have. I took photographs as well as created a unique brand for 5 different companies in the small rural community of Cairo, Nebraska. Many younger people are not moving back to these amazing rural communities because they do not fit the needs of the modern lifestyle. I want to start by creating spaces that incorporate old traditions as well as bring in new traditions. I took images that captured the presence of each company, then I used those to create a brand that was unique to each one of them.
