The Chicago Marathon is more than just a race. It’s a celebration of endurance, community, and the extraordinary human spirit. This redesign aims to inspire spectators, instill pride in runners, and, above all, capture the energy that makes this event unlike any other.

The goal is to craft a visual identity that reflects the marathon’s infectious spirit. It needs to feels just as electric and unifying as race day itself.

My Musings

The biggest thing this project taught me is that branding isn’t about finding one perfect element. It’s not just the logo, or the color palette, or the imagery. It’s how everything works together to tell a story.

When I started designing for the Chicago Marathon, I felt completely overwhelmed. I had too many ideas, no clear direction, and a constant sense that nothing was quite right. I kept looking at how other marathons had done it, hoping for clarity, but that only made things worse. I didn’t want to replicate someone else’s system. I wanted to create something that felt true to this marathon.

Chicago is different. It's special. So instead of focusing on what I wanted it to look like, I started thinking about how I wanted people to feel when they looked at it. That shift changed everything. It reminded me that branding isn’t just visual. It’s emotional. When all the pieces come together to make someone feel something, that’s when it really works. That's when creativity reaches its maximum power.