Chicago food Stop

Brand development & Activation

Overview

In 2022, World Business Chicago tapped Storyhorse to create a city-centric brand for a new 12-week pop-up experience inside Chicago’s iconic John Hancock Center. The immersive experience aimed to pay homage to the city’s rich legacy of culinary innovation, business community support and entrepreneurial spirit. From the event’s name to its look and feel, color palette, and tone-of-voice, Storyhorse partnered with WBC to design a timeless pop-up brand that would outlast its brief stay in the city.

Initial creative rounds involved moodboard development and naming routes–culminating in the emergence of three distinct visual and verbal identity directions which was then whittled down to the final “Fork & Beans” concept. Incorporating the events location, the Hancock Center, with a fork cheekily piercing the Chicago’s ‘Cloud Gate’, more aptly known as the Bean, this route entices the audience to savor Chicago's rich architectural and culinary history. Originally slated for three months, the pop-ups success resulted in several extensions, ultimately remaining open to the public for an impressive six months.