The Chicago Marathon is more than just a race. It’s a celebration of endurance, community, and the extraordinary human spirit. This redesign aims to inspire spectators, instill pride in runners, and, above all, capture the energy that makes this event unlike any other.
The goal is to craft a visual identity that reflects the marathon’s infectious spirit. It needs to feels just as electric and unifying as race day itself.
The Chicago Marathon is an extraordinary feat, powered by diversity, strength, and energy. Unlike traditional sports, which often rely on a single mascot to represent their spirit, marathons defy singular representation. The goal was to create a community of characters. Each one capturing the wide range of people who come together to make the marathon a dynamic, collective event, superheroes in motion.
Together, these characters embody the inclusivity, endurance, and joy that make the marathon more than a race. A victory in itself.
These wavy figures represent fluidity, motion, and the joy of running. They capture the feeling of a runner’s high and the childhood thrill of moving fast just for the fun of it. Integrated into the background, they celebrate the essence of running—a blend of freedom, rhythm, and the indomitable spirit that keeps runners going.
The color palette was chosen with race day in mind. Bold, vibrant hues were selected to stand out across signage, banners, and digital displays, making the marathon visible in every corner of the city. These colors help build excitement, boost runner morale, and reflect the energy that’s already in the air. As people line the streets to cheer on friends and strangers alike, the colors become part of that shared experience, amplifying the spirit of the day and celebrating the strength of everyone out there running.
The biggest thing this project taught me is that branding isn’t about finding one perfect element. It’s not just the logo, or the color palette, or the imagery. It’s how everything works together to tell a story.
When I started designing for the Chicago Marathon, I felt completely overwhelmed. I had too many ideas, no clear direction, and a constant sense that nothing was quite right. I kept looking at how other marathons had done it, hoping for clarity, but that only made things worse. I didn’t want to replicate someone else’s system. I wanted to create something that felt true to this marathon.
Chicago is different. It's special. So instead of focusing on what I wanted it to look like, I started thinking about how I wanted people to feel when they looked at it. That shift changed everything. It reminded me that branding isn’t just visual. It’s emotional. When all the pieces come together to make someone feel something, that’s when it really works. That's when creativity reaches its maximum power.
