Art Direction for a citywide advertising campaign. Designed and modeled OOH placements, self-produced low-budget shoots, and collaborated with vendors to execute large-scale projections across San Francisco’s most iconic landmarks.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, San Francisco reached a critical inflection point. Amid economic strain, safety concerns, and heightened visibility of homelessness, national media narratives increasingly framed the city as a symbol of urban decline.

Advance SF came to us during this moment to help shift the narrative and tell a truer story about San Francisco.

San Francisco has always been a place where the future takes shape first. Defined by ideas and invention, its identity as a crossroads of culture, fearlessness, and innovation hadn’t disappeared. It had simply been overshadowed.

We created It All Starts Here, a campaign rooted in San Francisco’s enduring role as a birthplace of progress.

Inspired by the city’s iconic street signs and intersections, the visual system emphasized the convergence of culture, commerce, and innovation through citywide OOH placements and landmark projections. Each execution paired two Bay Area–born companies, spanning many of the region’s most influential brands, and balanced the campaign system with each company’s distinct visual language and brand guidelines.

Launched during APEC, the campaign sparked global attention and widespread press coverage, earning 2.1+ billion impressions across 445 media placements.

Post-campaign research revealed a significant boost in local sentiment: 90% associated San Francisco with innovation 82% felt more hopeful about the city’s future 86% felt increased pride in San Francisco