Culture Coast Network

The south side of Chicago is home to many museums, music and theater ensembles, performance venues, cultural non-profit organizations, and arts education groups. Thirst, together with a coalition of organizations, is working to define this collection of artistically vibrant neighborhoods as the city's Culture Coast.

To create both a voice and visual identity, we developed a series of icons by taking the sound of residents saying "Culture Coast" and turning that data into visual three-dimensional forms. When all are seen together, they express the diversity of those living on the Culture Coast.

A unique 3D form is rendered by saying the words "Culture Coast" aloud, creating a visual imprint of every person's voice.

When the visual forms are combined together they form a community in themselves, and through that, a true visual representation of the neighborhood.

The typeset words 'Culture Coast' represent the community as a diverse collection of American Gothic typefaces, all available for use.

Culturecoastnetwork.org serves as a resource for members .

Artist Theaster Gates shares what he loves about the Culture Coast.

Anyone with a roll of blue tape and a camera can create a culture coast event. We outline the process with a simple formula: A roll of blue tape plus an idea, and you have a Culture Coast event.

A newsprint tabloid announces all the diverse sights, sounds, happenings, and goings on.

The 3D shapes appear in different neighborhoods, connecting those to the mid-South side.

Client: Culture Coast Network

Service: Branding; Research