SITUATION Downtown Atlanta had a hole in its heart. For decades, “The Gulch”—50 acres of asphalt and rail lines—cut the city in half, both literally and culturally. But with $5 billion in investment and a vision to reimagine this void, Centennial Yards set out to stitch the city back together. More than a skyline project, this was a soul project. I was brought in as creative lead at the earliest stage to define the brand from the ground up—partnering with a strategy agency and developers to tell the story, shape the voice, and build an identity bold enough to match the scale of the ambition. TASK Brand an entirely new district—one that could rally stakeholders, entice investors, inspire residents, and feel distinctly, undeniably Atlanta. ACTION We began with a question: how do you brand the future of a city—without erasing its past? The answer came from beneath our feet. Before Atlanta was even Atlanta, this very place was a point of convergence. It was here that railroads met and commerce moved. It was where a flipped wye junction—an ingenious rail configuration—formed the shape of an “A.” This A didn’t just inspire our logo. It inspired our ethos: built from ingenuity, designed for everyone. I developed a brand platform that honored Atlanta’s raw creativity, its cultural richness, and its refusal to be defined by convention. The tagline, “Where It All Begins,” speaks to both origin and opportunity. From that foundation, we built a system that could flex across civic, commercial, and cultural conversations. I led the creative development and wrote across every touchpoint: • Brand Identity: An iron-forged A in a red circle—modern yet rooted in Atlanta’s past. • Charter Book: A foundational storytelling tool for city approvals, press, and funding partners. • Launch Films: Cinematic, voice-driven stories that introduced the brand with poetic authority. • Website & UX: A dynamic hub for leasing, press, and neighborhood updates. • Environmental & Experiential: From wayfinding to wall wraps, the brand took physical space before buildings even rose. • OOH Campaigns: Targeted placements across Atlanta, putting the new district on the map. • Office & Sales Collateral: Unified brand presence for internal teams and external stakeholders. • Visual Toolkit: Previz renders and lifestyle photography to imagine the neighborhood’s future. RESULT Centennial Yards didn’t just launch a brand. It launched a movement: • Flipped public perception of downtown Atlanta from abandoned to ascendant • Charter Book became a city-facing tool to rally support and approvals • Site signage and OOH made Centennial Yards a visible, vibrant presence long before ground was broken • Website and film content established a vision-forward digital footprint • Stakeholders consistently cited the branding as “the cultural glue” holding this complex project together • LEGEND (my agency) was retained as long-term creative partner to guide the brand through build-out and beyond REFLECTION You can’t build the future of a city with buildings alone. You need belief. Identity. A narrative that invites people in. That’s what this brand did. It didn’t just name a development. It reframed a downtown—and gave Atlanta a place worthy of its ambition.