Within the last 4 years, if you’ve been around any of the public parks in downtown Detroit, you may have seen some of my work. Since 2020, through Trent Creative I worked closely with The Downtown Detroit Partnership to create a large portion of their print/digital projects and way-finding needs.

The Downtown Detroit Partnership is a group of diverse business and community leaders committed to supporting a welcoming urban center through innovation, investment, philanthropy and community building. They are responsible for the operations of the public parks in downtown Detroit, as well as orchrestrating many of the major events that come through such as the Tree Lighting ceremony, and even the 2024 NFL draft.

Windmaster / Poster Design

I designed the majority of DDP’s needed print assets for windmasters and other poster needs. The client would come to us with no brand or pre-existing art direction for an event, and I would be responsible for developing an appopriate brand or identity system.

LED Signage / Marketing

Similar to their windmaster and print signage needs, the client would also need digital slides created for the events to be displayed on their large LED signs in Campus Martius Park and Beacon Park.

Misc. Print and Digital Needs

Being on retainer meant that I handled many miscelleanous design requests, such as lanyard designs, passes, flyers and any other multimedia design needs.

Twice a year DDP puts out a programming guide for their events and happenings for the season. A huge project that takes 2-4 months to complete, combining vendors/event coordination by DDP staff, with a design system that can accommodate all the needed moving parts. I was the primary designer for each years program and created the current art direction and layouts used in their programming.

I’m particularly proud of leading the design initiatives for the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. A huge ceremony DDP organizes in the heart of Campus Martius Park to kick-off the holiday season in Detroit. The event features live music, ice-skating performances, and turns the entire downtown area into a big winter festival.

This was a good example of using my experience to reach beyond what the client was anticipating. The client came to us looking for simple event signage and collateral, just enough to skin the event in a fun, winter-vibe. Through a deeper analysis on the event and the opportunities presented in their position, what they needed was a full event brand identity, particularly a logo.

The results were great, with a solid brand identity in place all the event collateral developed smoothly. Above that, it created an immersive, and cohesive experience for all parties involved in the event, from the staff and performers to guests and traffic.