The 90th Midsummer Classic takes over one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll cities in America.

When the All-Star Game heads to Cleveland, you can’t ignore the rich heritage of rock ‘n’ roll the city holds. When delving into our research, we discovered a number of interesting hooks for the identity.

We first looked at regional Cleveland inspiration, such as Ohio City and Playhouse Square, and quickly pivoted to the number of rock mainstays birthed from the area, including The Black Keys, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Tracy Chapman, CloudNothings, The Cramps, Dead Boys, Devo, Kid Cudi, Nine Inch Nails, The Pretenders and Michael Stanley. Cleveland-based radio host and DJ Alan Freed coined the term “rock ‘n’ roll” in 1945 before the world knew what to call it, and is referred to as the “father of rock ‘n’ roll.” In addition, Ian Hunter penned "Cleveland Rocks" as a tribute, and was given key to the city by mayor Dennis Kucinich.

In the course of all of our rock ‘n’ roll research, we collected dozens of black and white rock band logos, photocopied gig posters, guitar pedal typography, and roadie case stencils. We even did a deep study of the anatomy of a guitar.

In the end, we developed a rich program of art including rock-inspired typography, guitars and drum heads, and pattern of band logo-themed type, and of course, a tour -shirt.