São Paulo Studio Black Madre Captures Chicago’s Institutional Side for Illustrative Campaign

All of Chicago city's cultural wealth, inspiration and pioneering are being valued and disseminated through a broad institutional campaign, called Chicago Tour Not In Chicago, from the agency Energy BBDO. The project brings 12 posters created and developed by the Brazilian studio Black Madre, as well as pieces such as advertisements and videos.

Located in the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago is considered an effervescent melting pot that blends different cultures. The metropolis where the first cell phone was created has a strong influence in architecture, passing through gastronomy to the music scene, such as blues, house music and gospel. The influence is so big that it becomes a reference for other American states and also for large urban centres, such as São Paulo, London, Toquio and Berlin.

Each poster developed by Black Madre illustrates one attraction originating from the city that has been expanded to the world, such as the cell phone and the first skyscraper. The campaign was inspired in details, such as the information that many of New York's most iconic buildings, like the Flatiron Building and One World Tower, were built by architecture offices from Chicago.

The design of the campaign is based on the largest icons in the city, that is, the red stars displayed on the Chicago flag. In each piece, it’s possible to notice at least one point of the famous stars. Already announced by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, the campaign is part of a project that aims to change the perception of the Chicago brand, in addition to reinforcing the pride of the local population and attracting new businesses and tourists.

André Maciel, partner and founder of Black Madre, points out that this work profile is something new for the studio and that the result was extremely gratifying. “For the first time we developed illustrations for a campaign to a city hall. The challenge was to find a language that would translate the essence of the city, using the trademark, which are the colours blue, red and white, besides the four stars of the Chicago flag”