This past spring, I collaborated with Solid to reimagine the symbol of Charlotte, NC - the real and historic Queen Charlotte - as a concept for a new economic development campaign for the City of Charlotte Government here in North Carolina.

Most often depicted as the regalia-draped Queen Charlotte by the community, our reimagined Queen Charlotte is depicted on a stylized cinema poster, implying a shifted consciousness and storyline that moves the narrative, style and tone of economic development.

We wanted to disrupt the trope of economic development dominated by white male leaders by asserting the strong, intentional identity of black women as leaders in a growing Southern city.

We love pushing on embedded systems like econ dev.

And, those systems predictably push back.