The Harold Washington Library Center is the central library for the Chicago Public Library System. It is located just south of the Loop 'L', at 400 S. State Street in Chicago. In 1987, Mayor Harold Washington ordered a design competition for a new central library in the South Loop. It is named named after Harold Washington, the city's first African American mayor, and opened on October 7, 1991. Besides books, the library houses winter garden, a maker lab, genealogy databases, original artwork, and music practice rooms. It also contains a children's library and YOUmedia: a library and studio space that holds digital media, making and STEM workshops for teens. The library also hosts book clubs and author events.  

What makes the library's architecture unique are the acroteria (metal sculptures) on the building's roof. Four barn owls decorate the corners of the roof, augmented by swirls of leaves and seed pods, while the great horned owl is atop the main entrance of the building, on State Street.

The new mark is a horned owl holding its wing over a smaller barn owl. This imagery, while referencing the building's acroteria, conveys that everyone is welcomed at the library regardless of age and background. The color further riffs of the color of the acroteria, which is a teal color.

For the stationery, I created using a teal line, and placed headings sidways on top on it to mimic books on a shelf.

The poster and style guide has a digitally collaged aesthetic to represent the library's multifaced, dynamic nature: the Harold Washington Library was not only a scholarly space, but was a creative and social one too. I looked to Wolfgang Weingart's work for inspiration, as he had created collaged designs that balanced structure with spotaneity.