sucka free
derby day/
About
The Bust Down
Challenge
The untold stories of Kentucky's first jockeys—13 of the first 15 Derby winners were Black jockeys—needed care and reimagination. Transform Kentucky Derby Day into an inclusive celebration honoring Black jockey heritage while maintaining broad appeal—a project that required both historical reverence and contemporary courage.
Approach
We developed a cultural positioning strategy and integrated marketing campaign that sold out a heritage event while increasing brand engagement. Our research revealed a gap between historical significance and contemporary cultural representation. From the signature rose motif reimagined in bold red graphics to historical photography integration, we crafted artwork that felt both premium and accessible.
Results
- Drove 38% increase in online brand interactions over 10 days
- Sold out 75-person event through creative campaign alone
- Concepted, art directed, and executed every deliverable solo — from historical archive research to final branded assets
- Repositioned an annual community gathering into a culturally significant, demand-driven event
Branded
Assets
Finding historical images to capture the authenticity and depth of each jockey's story was an obstacle course. We looked deep into archives that had small repositories of images. Once we sourced the right photos, we hit the ground running and produced rich assets alongside compressed timelines.
Content
Strategy
With assets approved and a clear direction based on the artist’s vision, we proceeded with producing content for both digital, social and print specimens of the community to share. We set our sights on creating content that felt more like “artwork”, with each subject owning their own moment—both in history and in the present.
