MAUMEE, Ohio – When Toledo’s streets are lined with “urban trees” this spring, seven designs from Hart Associates will be included.

The Urban Forest Project is a national project that was recently brought to Northwest Ohio by AIGA Toledo. The project focuses on promoting sustainability by decorating the city’s streets with banners that depict trees. Toledo is the first city in the Midwest to participate in the project.

Beginning April 22, 2010, in conjunction with the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day, 50 banners will appear on Toledo streets. Each banner was created by a local artist or designer. AIGA received 140 submissions, and a panel of three internationally-recognized judges narrowed it to the 50 best banners. Of the eight banners submitted by five Hart Associates designers, seven banners were chosen for display.

“This project provided a unique opportunity to graphic designers,” said Katie McLoughlin, an art director at Hart who contributed several designs. “Our day-to-day design work is focused on accurately portraying our clients’ image brand standards. The Urban Forest Project was a great opportunity to define our own individual standards and really express ourselves creatively.”

The Urban Forest Project was originally developed in 2006 by a New York marketing firm, when the streets of Times Square were turned into an “Urban Forest.” The project has spread across several U.S. cities, including Albuquerque, Denver and San Francisco.

When the local banners are taken down, they will be turned into unique tote bags; proceedes from sales of the bags will go to the Young Artists at Work Program of the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo.

To see more coverage of Toledo Urban Forest Project, visit UFP’s press page.

 About Hart Associates
Founded by Tom Hart in the early 1960s, Hart Associates (www.hartinc.com) is the leading integrated marketing and communications firm in Northwest Ohio. A member of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Hart Associates offers a wide range of services to business-to-business and business-to-consumer clients, including brand planning, general advertising, media planning and buying, public relations and crisis communications, direct and database marketing, interactive marketing, video production and graphic design.

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