Chicago Kinfolk: The Campaign

The Chicago Kinfolk: The Juke Joint Blues campaign case board is a standalone marketing and advertising artifact that encapsulates the project’s essence in a single, visually compelling frame. Conceived and executed by Terry Blade, the board distills the project’s cultural ambition, institutional validation, and critical reception into a persuasive visual narrative. Through bold typography, historic imagery from the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project, curated press commentary, and measurable impact data, the board positions Chicago Kinfolk as more than a music release—it is communicated as a cultural preservation initiative and a cross-disciplinary campaign.

This piece captures the project’s most important recognitions: a nomination at the 2025 Blues Blast Music Awards, CSS Design Awards Special Kudos for the companion microsite, archival cataloging in French médiathèques, a +283% surge in listeners, and widespread critical acclaim in outlets ranging from The Big Takeover to We Write About Music. By presenting these achievements in a case board format, Blade demonstrates his fluency in campaign storytelling—able to translate an expansive, heritage-driven project into a high-impact advertising presentation.

The case board also connects to the project’s other creative pieces: the case film, which documents the process and presents the project as a cinematic essay, and the microsite, which offers an immersive, interactive archive. While each artifact functions independently, together they reinforce the project’s scope—where music, design, film, and archival research converge into a cohesive cultural campaign. Within this ecosystem, the case board stands as the campaign’s visual manifesto, condensing the larger story into an instantly graspable format for juries, institutions, and audiences alike.