What it had to solve
As Los Angeles rose from tourism's 'lost year', the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board invited Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One and Andy Cruz's House Industries to help stage its comeback with a new brand identity.
The idea
A sun motif nodding to LA's domed landmarks sits over a brush stroke for the ocean and self-expression, in a sunrise-to-sunset gradient — the whole sky over one city.
How it works
The two studios — longtime friends uniting for the first time — built a fresh logo, iconography and colours for the 'Your Comeback Starts Here' campaign, digging into LA's iconic signage and typography history. The identity landed just in time for the city's 15 June reopening.
What it did
The identity rolled out with 'Your Comeback Starts Here' at the city's reopening on 15 June 2021. No adoption or tourism figures were reported.
Background
In July 2021, graphic artist Shepard Fairey — known for Obey Giant and the 2008 Obama Hope portrait — and art director Andy Cruz of House Industries revealed a new logo for the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Fairey's Studio Number One and Cruz's House Industries were invited to help stage the board's comeback as the city recovered from tourism's 'lost year'.
The mark layers meanings: a sun motif that says everyone is welcome while nodding to LA's iconic domed architecture (the Hollywood Bowl, the Cinerama Dome), above a brush stroke referencing the ocean and creative self-expression. The colours mimic the city's sky from sunburst yellow through sunset orange to dusky teal, capturing LA's 'vibrant history, diversity, culture and lifestyle'.
'When you say Los Angeles it doesn't necessarily mean just a city. It's a whole mindset, a vibe, a culture,' said Fairey. Cruz called the collaboration — 'wonder-twin[ing]' the two studios — something he and Fairey had waited years to activate.
Why it lands
Two of LA's most distinctive design voices — Obey Giant's Fairey and House Industries' Cruz — pooled their aesthetics for one civic mark.
The logo is argued from the city itself: domed landmarks, the ocean, a sunrise-to-sunset sky, 'a mindset, a vibe, a culture'.
Timing is part of the design: the identity was built for a specific moment, the 15 June 2021 reopening after a lost year.
What you can take
A destination's comeback identity lands when local creators distil the place's own iconography — a mark that honours the past but feels new.
Since then
The identity launched with 'Your Comeback Starts Here' as the city reopened on 15 June 2021. No adoption or tourism figures were reported.
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