MANSFIELD — The cover of Destination Mansfield-Richland County’s 2025 visitor guide is bolder, glossier and more vivid than past iterations.
This was all done intentionally, according to Lee Tasseff, president of the organization.
“We wanted every picture to pop,” said Tasseff, who joined the Richland County Board of Commissioners on Thursday to highlight the new guide.
“It’s very colorful. We played with the fonts a little bit (and) shortened some of the copy,” he said.
The corporation’s website describes the guide as the “ultimate tool for discovering everything there is to do in Mansfield and Richland County, including events, attractions and recreation to shopping, food and drink, lodging and arts and entertainment.
A map of the county is also featured.
Tasseff said new to this year’s guide is information on county dog parks and “Tinsel Towns,” which highlight how Richland County communities offer unique ways to celebrate the holiday season.
Three new profiles are included highlighting county residents who have moved away and come back, as well as those who decided to transplant their life to Richland County.
“The concept was if you have people’s attention coming to visit, then lets start to feed them some messages subtly and hopefully they see somebody they identify with that starts to tell a story about why they moved back and stayed or why they moved here and stayed,” Tasseff said.
Guides distributed across Ohio
About 75 percent of the 80,000 printed guides never make it inside the walls of Destination Mansfield-Richland County, Tasseff said.
The guides arrive at a warehouse and quickly get distributed to local businesses around the county, as well as locations across the state. A free digital copy of the 2025 visitor guide can be accessed on the corporation’s website.
For those seeking a physical copy, a form can be filled out online and a copy will be mailed to their address. This year’s guide is about 60 pages long.
Destination Mansfield-Richland County spends nearly a year planning, designing and creating the visitor guide, Tasseff said.
“The outline was done late last summer, the editorial was done in the fall and we’ve been staring at it since October, so it’s a long process,” he said.
New Richland B&O Trail brochure
Tasseff also highlighted a new brochure for the Richland B&O and Mansfield Trails — the first time a map of the B&O trail has been updated since 2017.
He said the current iteration is only meant to be a placeholder for a few years as the trail is currently expanding. The brochure and map provide information about each community found along the paved 18.4-mile bike trail.
“We pitch it (the trail) as a leisure experience,” the president said. “Every four, four and a half miles you’re at a different community (with a) different personality.
“You can get off, walk around (and) wander around. You can eat ice cream, drink wine, eat (and) hit a dog park.”
Commissioner Cliff Mears told Tasseff he’s spent a good amount of time reading the brochure since he received it last week.
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Mears said. “I think it’s brilliant.”
The map was produced in partnership by Destination Mansfield-Richland County, Richland Public Health, Henley Graphic Communications, Inc. and Brightspeed. Tasseff also thanked the City of Mansfield Parks and Recreation Department and the Richland County Park District for their assistance with the map.
The brochure can be accessed for free on the Destination Mansfield-Richland County website.