Miami Design District

A 20 year creative partnership that has defined Miami’s cultural hotspot

Visual Identity Art Direction Print & Packaging

The Insight

Today, the Miami Design District is known as an ever-evolving cultural hub and creative neighbourhood forging the future of luxury fashion, dining, design, art, and architecture. But our work began in 2007 when the story of the District was still untold and the audacious vision had yet to become a reality. Our task was to create a simple yet striking brand system that could evolve and flex as that vision became a reality. We knew that creative bravery was not optional, and that our work needed to represent and push the Design District. So, we started with a disarmingly simple base that could reflect the ambitious vision for the Design District — the District’s original footprint — and built imagery and type in a flexible system on top of it. The result is a timeless brand that has seamlessly captured the District for almost 20 years, and feels so natural to the world of the brand that it could handle 20 more years of changes.

Years later, Made Thought and MDD continue to push each other’s creative boundaries, constructing a brand world as alive and audacious as the District itself. With a current remit that stretches to communications, our challenge with the 2023 campaign was to capture the feeling of a place whose ambition and creativity are almost unbelievable.

The Idea

For the 2023 campaign, in order to capture the other-worldly quality of The District, we partnered with animation studio 2Veinte to write and direct a short film alive with the energy and emotion of a place ‘beyond belief’.

Propelled by curiosity, our hero is pulled into a world of creativity and inspiration that reflects the dynamism of the District. Navigating hand-drawn illustrations that rework iconic District landmarks while a Made Thought-composed score pulses, our hero encounters an environment that reveals new possibilities and potential.

The result was a campaign that lent itself to world-building in a way that photography never could and allowed us to create a fantastic, hyperreal vision of the District that fit seamlessly across different media from OOH to social.

The Impact

The campaign was embraced by the community and excited the press, who mentioned the work in publications from Hypebeast to Zoe Magazine and the Animation World Network.

Most importantly, as another entry in over a decade of collaboration, this campaign gave renewed clarity to the Design District’s creative ambition. We expanded the visual, verbal, and aural language in the District’s creative library, while honing our strategic and creative communications for an evolving Miami Design District whose dexterity and variety can come alive every day for engaged guests.

Expertise

Place

Services

Brand Creation, Communications, Production, Strategy

Art Direction Campaign Motion & 3D Print & Packaging Visual Identity Website & UX

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A brand world as alive and audacious as the District itself.

Over a decade of collaboration, this campaign gave renewed clarity to the Design District’s creative ambition.

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Rachel Gomez, Director of Marketing, Miami Design District

“We have worked with Made Thought for over a decade. Throughout the years and different development stages of our neighbourhood, we have counted on MT to not only breathe life into our brand identity, but also conceptualise cutting-edge campaigns. The process of working with Made Thought has been seamless and fun. As creatives ourselves, we love to partner with the team, work with them behind the scenes and witness how these amazing ideas come to life.”