— CASE STUDY · CULTURE · EDITORIAL · PLACE BRANDING —

CBUS
Soul.

An editorial and campaign system celebrating Black culture, business, and creativity across Columbus, sourced from the culture it documents.

CLIENT

CBUS Soul® — Experience Columbus

ROLE

Design + Art Direction

YEAR

2025

FOCUS

Culture + Editorial

01 Overview

CBUS Soul celebrates Black culture, business, and creativity across Columbus. The work built an editorial and campaign system that puts the city’s own voice on the page, a design language sourced from the culture it documents rather than applied on top of it.

SCOPE

Editorial · Campaign · Digital · Social

DELIVERABLES

Editorial system, campaign visuals, digital assets, social kit

WEBSITE

www.experiencecolumbus.com

TIMELINE

Ongoing

SECTOR

Tourism · Culture · Place Branding

02 The Challenge

Culture isn’t a texture you apply. It’s the source.

Place-branding work about Black culture often arrives borrowed, aesthetic references lifted without context, energy simulated rather than earned. The system had to be built from the inside: rooted in Columbus specifically, credible to the community it documents, and expressive enough to compete for attention in a tourism feed.

03 The Approach

PILLAR A

Cultural
Storytelling

Root each concept in the people, places, neighborhoods, music, history, and creative culture that shaped Black Columbus. The merchandise becomes a storytelling platform, not simply a branded product.

PILLAR B

Wearable Creative Expression

Translate cultural references into bold, contemporary graphics that feel relevant, stylish, collectible, and genuinely wearable. The goal is to balance meaningful storytelling with strong visual and commercial appeal.

PILLAR C

Community Pride + Connection

Create merchandise that gives residents and visitors a tangible way to celebrate, represent, and connect with the legacy and evolving identity of Black Columbus while expanding the reach of the CBUS Soul® brand.