What do you do when the national media says your town is beyond saving? If you’re the group of thinkers behind the New Detroit Project, you fight back by taking charge of your story. No American city has seen its reputation suffer as Detroit’s has over the past few decades, so we set out to help citizens and stakeholders regain control of their city’s narrative. With the belief that communities are defined by a multitude of voices, local journalists, business professionals, and politicians joined forces in person and online to reclaim the soul of Detroit from its negative portrayal in the media and remind the rest of the country what their city stands for.

Taking Charge of Our Story was a one-day summit for journalists, educators, government officials, and business, community, and labor leaders to discuss how to accurately portray Detroit and its rich history in a way that would shape a better future for the city. The summit examined where Detroit has been, where it is now, and where it intends to go. Post-conference, we are now producing a collaborative eBook to unveil the rich and diverse untold stories of Detroit that were discovered at the event.

The ‘Taking Charge of Our Story’ project would be executed on posters, programs, a blog, and a Twitter account. Our creative team developed striking imagery and logos to correspond with each. One approach incorporated children’s drawings of Detroit into actual photos to create an emotionally powerful juxtaposition. Another approach employed a “stitched-up” motif throughout imagery of the city. Bold, vivid, and powerful, these visual executions conveyed the weight and the stakes of the conference. Ultimately, Story used a series of photographs donated by local artist that depicted heroic, historical, and political metaphors for the city of Detroit.

Hoping to get as many people as possible involved in the day’s proceedings, we live-blogged the summit and streamed live video so anyone could participate and comment—not only those in attendance and residents of Detroit, but the rest of the country as well. The summit became a chance for Americans to better understand a chronically misunderstood city.