ICON developed a strategy, positioning, identity, VIS ID, web presence and a full suite of digital and analog sales collateral for South Downtown, a large-scale adaptive reuse and redevelopment of the largest collection of historic buildings in Atlanta.

 

South Downtown isn’t a place dreamed up by a developer. It’s a real place—eight city blocks that hold the history of where and how Atlanta began, evolved and became the cultural and commercial center of the South. Our client, Newport RE, saw the potential in the area that had long suffered from the neglect so common in urban cores.

 

But in the shadow of this neglect, a renaissance had quietly happened—South Downtown became a heartbeat for the arts scene. Galleries and performance spaces sprang up along historic blocks. People began moving back in, drawn towards South Downtown’s amazing location and access to transit. 

 

Our work began by digging in to the many layers of the area’s history, it’s soul, to tell a story about its future. The VIS is anchored by a logo made up of different typographic parts—a bringing together open to all. The brand celebrates the beautiful multiplicity of the place, the layers that give it depth.  And leasing materials break the norm by telling a deep, rich story of place and progress—not just the specs.