Five years in the Parks

For 5 years I worked with The Chicago Park District to brand and promote Night Out in the Parks. I led the development of their advertising, edited and designed their events magazine, and conceived and created their popular event listing app. Today I continue to support the parks as a member of the board of directors of The Chicago Parks Foundation.

YEAR 1: Each summer, The Chicago Park District hosts hundreds of free events in neighborhood parks. I led the branding of Night Out in the Parks with a distinct and unifying visual identity that would invoke the idyllic feel of a summer night in a park under the stars.

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YEAR 2: Following the success of Night Out in the Parks’ inaugural year, we set out to more clearly unify divergent programming and strengthen the brand. The centerpiece of this work was a magazine featuring local events and people who epitomize summer in Chicago, such as a couple who got engaged during one of the Movies in the Parks and the family behind Circus in the Parks.

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YEAR 3: In 2016, I pitched and produced a comprehensive event listings app and created an outdoor campaign to encourage its download.

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YEAR 4: The continued success of Night Out in the Parks led the Chicago Park District to extend the summertime events schedule to continue year round. We expanded the app to adjust seasonally and developed marketing to highlight the myriad of Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring activities.

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YEAR 5: As a bookend to year 1, and to remind city dwellers and visitors alike of the great variety of free happenings in the parks, we created a campaign that focused on the six main event categories.

YEAR 6+: Following this work for the Chicago Park District, I was asked to join the board of directors of The Chicago Parks Foundation, the non-profit partner of the Chicago Park District. I love seeing many elements of my prior Night Out in the Parks work still living on throughout the city and I'm happy to be able to continue to support Chicago's city parks. If you'd like to do so too, you can donate or participate in one of our fundraising events.