Visit McHenry County Travel Guide

Working at an agency specializing in tourism, travel guides are among the largest and most time-consuming projects you’ll tackle. During my time as an art director at McDaniels Marketing, I designed many such guides, but the one that stands out to me is the travel guide we created for McHenry County, Illinois. Previous versions had been ad-supported and were not particularly engaging for readers. We decided to take a bold new approach, shifting the strategy completely by developing an editorial-style visitor’s guide that highlighted the unique features and quirky aspects of the area.

This shift in both content and design was a significant departure from the previous guides, requiring careful planning and creativity. The end result was a guide that not only captured the essence of McHenry County but also made for a much more enjoyable reading experience. Our work was immediately recognized, as the guide won the award for Best Visitors Publication at the Excellence in Tourism Awards during the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel and Tourism.