Nick Adam
Visual brand identity for the 2020 Taste of Chicago



Design Studio

Span

 Clients

The City of Chicago
Department of Cultural Affairs (DCASE)
Taste of Chicago
Design Museum of Chicago


Community

Civic, Cultural
Services

Branding, Print


Credits

Nick Adam
Design Direction, Design
Designed while at Span. The Taste of Chicago is the world’s largest culinary festival. More than just food, activities have included live music from artists such as Janelle Monae, Chance the Rapper, and Los Lonely Boys.

This year the City of Chicago partnered with the Design Museum of Chicago to commission Nick Adam of Span to design materials that would raise money for the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund.

2020 marks the Taste's 40th anniversary, starting in 1980 with Mayor Jane Byrne continuing today with Mayor Lori Lightfoot. This year the festival won't take place in Grant Park due to COVID-19, the Taste of Chicago has been reimagined to showcase the diversity of Chicago’s culinary scene while supporting local nonprofits and frontline workers with free meals.

Our design expresses Chicago-ness while positioning the city as the United States’ culinary capital.Honors

STA 100 2021


the design focuses on lips as through them it’s how we eat, how we sing ... it’s how we say I love you
(below: our lips were inspired by the legendary Magikist signs designed by Doris Greenwood that once lined the expressways)

as Chicago is globally known for its style-writing (from lettering to graffiti) our Taste logotype (left) utilizes and modifies a highly-stylized flat brush typeface from OH no Type Company (right)
(below: Chicago style-writing that inspires us are the signs from Ches Perry, the walls of Jash, and the airbrushed shirts from Greg Gunter)

the custom Chicago block lettering is inspired by Chicago style architecture and by Jackson Cavanaugh’s AGI poster
(below: IIT’s S. R. Crown Hall by Mies van der Rohe, Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) by Krueck Sexton, Federal Building by Mies van der Rohe with a red kiss from Alexander Calder)



Nick Adam, Design Director 
and Associate Partner at Span.Studio

New business inquiries
Nick(at)Span.Studio


Chicago, South Side 
Kenwood Neighborhood

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