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JUST FINISHED

A Perfectly Pleasant Day 

Another year, another Crosspark Challenge complete. We kicked balls! We leapt frogs! We tossed water balloons (and won)! Alas, it was not enough to take down Leo Burnett’s Department of Design, who nabbed the Big Trophy. Your Fireballers came in at second, bringing home nine medals, including Wild Child, Employee of the Month and Strongest Will. 

A thousand hugs and high fives to our beloved Studio Manager Emily Berman, the genius behind @feedingthefirebelly, for coordinating an outstanding day and dispensing Advil from her first aid fanny pack. Many thanks to our spectacular judges: Mary Foyder, Sara Colella, Rapha Cala, David Wright, Marc Howell and Luke Paisley. Your whistles and wiles kept us in line and good spirits all day. Big shouts to Someoddpilot, One Design, Dawn F#@kin’ Hancock and Chris Eichenseer for six straight years of sport and sunshine.

Relive the Glory

IN THE WORKS

Eyes on Jackson

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is at it again. Since 2016, RWJF has hosted Sharing Knowledge, a roving conference where cross-sector leaders explore ideas for creating a Culture of Health. In addition to designing the event identity, we’ve worked with RWJF every year to create an immersive, engaging space. For 2020, we’re thinking bigger, joining RWJF—along with AcademyHealth and the National Collaborative for Health Equity—to reimagine the end-to-end attendee experience.

The theme for next year: racial equity, social justice and health. The location: Jackson, Mississippi. How might we get attendees out of the convention center and into the community, learning from locals and co-creating strategies for tackling inequity? Let the brainstorms begin.  

 

Follow the Freedom Trail 

AROUND TOWN

Style for Miles

Hot on the heels of winning Strongest Will at Crosspark, Firebelly’s own Design Director and type fanatic, Will Miller, is running his 8th(!) Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 13th. After months of running letter-shaped routes across our fine city, he’s burned 532,161 calories and clocked 4,850 miles. Best of luck crossing the finish line strong and healthy!

Find a place to cheer the athletes on or check out the course preview to get a Will's-eye-view of all 26.2 miles.

 

Scope Your Spot

DOING GOOD

Good/Work 2020

The 2020 Grant for Good is just around the corner. If you don’t know, now you know: the Grant is an in-kind award for a full year of Firebelly’s services, given to one nonprofit. We always start with brand identity. From there, the sky’s the limit: web refresh, communication strategy, print collateral, environmental design...if we can do it, we can do it. 

The application will go live on October 15. This year, we’re keeping it close and opening it up to organizations in the Chicagoland area. Know a badass local nonprofit in need of a refresh? Send ‘em our way!

 

Get Ready for the Grant

FRESH AT FIREBELLY

An Honor to be Mentioned

Unstoppable cannot and will not be stopped. Our Webby-winning campaign for Planned Parenthood just brought home an Honorable Mention for Graphic Design in FastCompany’s 2019 Innovation by Design. Among the winners and honorees: NYPL Insta Novels by Mother, Collins’ Mailchimp rebrand and the Pride Toronto identity by Bruce Mau Design. Not bad.

We remain so very grateful to our friends at Planned Parenthood for all the faith they’ve put in Firebelly. From refreshing the Brand Book to helping create a movement from a single moment in time, we’ve learned so much from each other along the way. Let’s keep this good train rolling. 

See All the Winners