MAKE MAINE YOURS
A visual refresh for Maine the Way as we set sail into another decade of business!
A decade ago, Maine the Way started as something pretty simple: one Instagram account, two people with cameras, and a deep love of this state. What it’s grown into — a real career, a community we cherish, and now a family raised alongside it — is better than our wildest dreams. Before we share our rebrand and what’s ahead for Maine the Way, we just want to say thank you. For the kind words. For supporting our print publications, brand partnerships, and all other endeavors. For following along through every season and evolution. We feel the love and are eternally grateful. Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning, just found our brand, or joined along somewhere in between — thank you!
Cam and I both pride ourselves on having an eye for design. But it’s one thing to know what you like and another to bring it to life. Over the years we made some earnest attempts at building our own brand visuals. Try as we might, we could never seem to translate the vision into anything. After ten years of growth — and a lot of conversations about where we want Maine the Way to go next — it felt like the right moment to invest in this properly. We’re so glad we did.
Hiring Helm felt like a natural fit from the start. They’ve built beautiful, thoughtful visual identities for so many local businesses we genuinely admire. Their finished work was what first caught our attention, but it was their process that really made this collaboration something special. Rather than jumping straight into concepts, Helm started with the bigger picture — who we are, what we value, where we’re headed, and crucially who we’re talking to. Not just the people already in our corner — folks who are already out kayaking in Merchant’s Row, swimming in Tumbledown Pond, or grabbing a beer and pizza at Oxbow after a good adventure. But the audience we’re growing toward — those who want to go deeper and learn more about this place that they love.
Putting a name and a personality to that person changed everything. Suddenly design decisions weren’t just subjective preferences. They were grounded in something real, in someone we knew. From there, the process flowed in a way that honestly surprised us. We’d throw half-baked ideas on the table — a vibe, a feeling, a reference photo — and Helm would translate all of it into something cohesive and beautiful. At each meeting, they would present us with three distinct directions with clear reasoning behind each one, then gave us a reflection questionnaire to help us sort through what was resonating and what wasn’t. It was collaborative and iterative without ever feeling chaotic. A genuine dream to work with.
What we landed on is something we’re really, truly proud of. The new visual identity strikes that balance we were after — clean and contemporary, but rooted in the timeless, heritage-forward quality that Maine has always carried. There are quiet details woven throughout that feel like little love letters to this place: a two-tone topographic coastline, a toile built from quintessential Maine graphics. The palette moves through sky blues, ocean blues, deep forest greens, and soft verdant tones that feel, to us, like every season here rolled into one. It’s a system that’s flexible enough to grow with us — simple when it needs to be, layered when the story calls for it. Most importantly, it still feels unmistakably like us.
When Helm landed on our new tagline — Make Maine Yours — we both felt it immediately. Because here’s the thing: when we run into you out in the world, you’re already doing it. You’re already on the island. Already skinning up the mountain. Already sitting at the table at some delicious restaurant. You don’t need us to hand you a checklist.
What we want to do is go deeper with you. Share the history and the human stories. Inspire new kinds of adventure. Shine a light on the corners of Maine that don’t always make the highlight reel. And for those of you who are dreaming about coming here for the first time, or planning your next visit from away — we have so much for you too. Just tell us what would be helpful.
Huge, heartfelt thanks to the team at Helm for helping us finally find the visual language we’d been searching for all along. And as always — thank you for being here. Let’s Make Maine Yours.