Moving Up: Greg Aylsworth selected as NPS Brand Manager

New NPS Brand Manager Greg Aylsworth

NPS Photo

Greg Aylsworth has been hired as the National Park Service (NPS) brand manager, a new position that will focus on developing a strong institutional branding system based on clear communications principles, a unified graphic identity, enforceable standards, and legally protectable intellectual property.

With nearly 30 years of professional design and communications experience, Greg has served with the NPS since 2017 as a visual information specialist and exhibit designer at Harpers Ferry Center and most recently as acting brand manager. He has collaborated as a member of the NPS Arrowhead Committee and NPS Brand Team, coordinates the NPS Brand Ambassador Program, and offers design and communications support to national offices, program areas, and NPS employee resource groups.

“Greg has been doing excellent work in this field, and this role will work across many NPS areas,” Assistant Director for Communications Jim Wilson said. “I look forward to working together with Greg and NPS leaders to elevate the importance of having a strong brand program for the service.”

The brand manager will serve as part of a core brand and intellectual property team, working across directorates with Communications, Partnerships and Civic Engagement, and Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers, including the Harpers Ferry Center for Media Services. This team will coordinate with internal and external experts, including the NPS Office of Policy and DOI Office of the Solicitor, to manage the organization’s brand and intellectual property portfolio.

“As you can imagine, the opportunities and possibilities for creative brand engagement within such a dynamic organization are limitless,” Aylsworth said. “I am truly honored to be entrusted with helping NPS develop this program. What an opportunity to be a small part of the amazing work the world already sees every day from all parks, programs, areas, offices, employees, and partners.”

Prior to joining the NPS, Aylsworth founded Octoblend, a design consultancy that developed identity designs for clients like The American Heart Association and NOAA and cultivated a relationship with Intersport, Inc. to create and support branded experiences for Under Armour, ESPN, and The Super Bowl. Greg began his career with The Ohio State University Department of Athletics (assistant communications director, 1997–2000; senior designer 2000–2004) and earned journalism and visual communication design degrees from there. After his tenure with OSU athletics, he was named visual communications and brand manager for Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory (2004), building their programming brands for 20 years, served as project manager for a rebranding effort at The Jackson Laboratory in Maine (2005), and worked with many federal clients including the United States Navy, national 4-H Program, and US Department of Homeland Security as a designer with Slice Works (2007–2009).

Greg has served on the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) DC Board of Directors as managing communications editor since 2022 and began a three-year term on the Northern Virginia Community College Graphic Design Advisory Committee in May 2024. He is a member of the advocacy group Where are the Black Designers?, a member of Yale School of Management’s executive education community, and coaches youth soccer in northern Virginia.