Creating a brand is always tough, but branding something as complex as an entire city becomes exceptionally challenging. A good brand takes a complex subject group & boils it down to the fundamental ideas, values, or missions that unite it. This is pretty straight forward for a soda company or a car dealership, but not for a group as multi-faceted as the city of Hamtramck. Ask any mayor what makes their city special, and you’ll pretty much get the same answer across the board: the people; “they’re friendly, hard-working, and diverse.” But in the case of Hamtown, saying the people are hardworking & diverse is an understatement. The city was built by the immigrants who came here to make a living working in the auto plants. People from all walks of life made their home here, eager to work hard for a chance of a brighter future.
The auto industry later abandoned Hamtramck, but the people never did. Hamtramck has become one of the most diverse communities in the country, and despite hard economic times, the spirit of Hamtramck has never been more alive. Here you’ll find people of all different cultures, beliefs, and values, but our differences don’t drive us apart — on the contrary — it’s our similarities that bring us together. “Fitting in” in Hamtramck is an oxymoron; you don’t come here to adopt our values, you come here to be yourself and celebrate being unique with the rest of us.
Thats why a traditional approach to branding just didn’t work here; Hamtramck isn’t defined by common values, it’s defined by the celebration of your own. Like a quilt you can find in the window of the Polish market, or on the bed of a Serbian mechanic, this city is comprised of countless cuts of cloth held together by a single thread: the opportunity for a better life — not only for ourselves, but for a future generation alike. These quilts weren’t bought from a store; they were made by hand, just the way we wanted it. It's the product of countless individual pieces, bound together with love and care into a single, beautiful picture.
It seemed appropriate that the thread should hold together the new identity as well, thus it is the defining element of this new visual system. It’s simple yet effective graphic element with the ability to tie just about anything together, so the the rest of the design is up you. make the poster you want to make, with the photos you want, in the colors you like, then tie it all together with the thread that holds it all together.
