Macy’s Fireworks: It Starts with a Spark

The spark that became a brand.

For the first post-COVID Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks, I saw the opportunity to create more than another annual poster. I conceived and pitched a complete campaign—a bold, optimistic celebration of New York and a country stepping back into the world. Inspired by the graphic storytelling of Schoolhouse Rock!, the identity paired civic pride with wit, attitude and the defiant energy of a city coming alive again.

With full ownership of Fireworks for the first time, I brought in New York icon Jon Contino and led the work from end to end: partner selection, strategy, brief, concept, art direction, copy, presentations, internal alignment, feedback and execution. Together, we developed a deeply flexible system of more than 50 illustrations, dozens of logo variations, 12 wordmarks and two custom typefaces—then carried it across every expression of the Macy’s brand and event.

The project transformed Fireworks from a seasonal creative assignment into a campaign with its own voice, world and capacity to evolve. It also completed a larger vision: for the first time in Macy’s Branded Entertainment’s nearly 100-year history, its tentpole events stood together as a family of distinct, public-facing brands. It was the first time I held all the creative reins—and the foundation for everything that followed.