Visit Hendricks County Announces Community-Driven Brand, New Messaging
Visit Hendricks County unveiled a new tourism brand at a public event Thursday at Hendricks Live! in Plainfield. The brand represents a year-long process to create a common language for residents to discuss what makes the community compelling and distinct.
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Contact: Josh Duke, Josh@VisitHendricksCounty.com
DANVILLE, IN (Feb. 12, 2026) – After months of listening to residents, business owners and community leaders, Visit Hendricks County arrived at a simple but powerful word to define our destination: Real. Shaped by community conversations, surveys and stakeholder input, the new brand reflects the authentic experiences, genuine people and down-to-earth communities that make Hendricks County exactly what it is — For Real.
The new brand grew directly out of Visit Hendricks County’s 2024 strategic planning process, which led the organization to launch Destination Defined: Connecting the Community, Visitors & Residents, which has and will continue to guide the future of tourism in Hendricks County.
"We're proud to have developed a brand that genuinely reflects the voices and aligns with the values of our community," said Jaime Bohler Smith, Executive Director/CEO of Visit Hendricks County. "This isn't just a campaign; it's a long-term commitment shaped by listening to the people who live and work here. We are confident in the real experiences that Hendricks County offers — because they’re the ones our community lives every day together."
A year-long branding effort enabled locals to help define how they see and experience Hendricks County, and how they want the county to grow.
Six defining traits consistently emerged from the listening sessions: authentic, genuine, honest, straightforward, down-to-earth and humble. All six are synonyms of the word Real.
For Real is Hendricks County’s way of saying it’s a place where fun feels easy and moments feel meaningful. Real means living well, being neighborly and enjoying communities built on substance, not show. The new branding, designed in cooperation with Madden Media, will reflect this by using authentic images and retaining the Visit Hendricks County name, with a reimagined logo that is flexible enough to support the organization’s focus on both locals and visitors. It also includes slightly modified versions of the navy and orange colors that have represented the organization for over a decade, as well as alternate marks, including an ‘HCo’ logo with a rising-sun effect that will become familiar to the brand.
To learn more about the brand, including a short video that helps tell the story, go to www.VisitHendricksCounty.com/Real.