San Francisco Small Business Week 2026 Visual Identity Illustration Wayfinding and Signage
Designed in collaboration with Carlos Lewis Design
San Francisco Small Business Week, put on by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, celebrates the entrepreneurs driving the city's economy and culture. This week-long event offers workshops, networking opportunities and activities to help local businesses connect and grow.
This year's theme - Scaling Bridges - centered on extending reach across neighborhoods, communities, and markets, and fostering relationships that enable long-term growth.
We created a city-wide ad campaign as well as environmental signage and wayfinding for the opening and closing ceremonies.
poster references
The direction from the Chamber of Commerce was to use Art Deco as the visual foundation for the campaign. Our goal, conceptually, was to identify a historically accurate through-line that could honor the brief without relying on cliche visual tropes commonly associated with the movement.
We found our answer in the posters of the 1920s and 1930s. They depicted trains, ocean liners, and cars not just for their aesthetic appeal but because they were expressions of progress. They represented jobs, innovation, civic ambition, and the idea that distance between people and places could be overcome. At their core they were visions of an optimistic future.
We made a deliberate decision to spotlight objects rather than people to invite a broader identification. Bread, books, and a frothing pitcher aren’t just representations of a bakery, a bookstore, or a cafe, but the communities anchored by these business.
SS Metroviation Two is the primary typeface with SAA Series and its’ varying weights playing a supporting role
The campaign also required a secondary design system where information was the primary concern. This included event signage, wayfinding, and other printed collateral.
We designed a frame made from the simplified linear forms of the bridges connecting San Francisco: the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. The frame functioned as both a visual anchor and a flexible grid. Horizontal rules can shift vertically to divide space and create scaffolding for headlines, body copy, directional information, etc.
Bar menu, food truck menu, and welcome sign for the opening ceremony
Double-sided tickets for the opening ceremony
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the trust of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Special thanks to Rolando Tirado for his partnership throughout the process, supporting our ideas, and allowing the work to take shape!