“Look up. Look down. Look all around. Pull the pieces together and all will be found.”
Developed to help celebrate 25 years of Sidewalk. The CIPHER concept is inspired by problem solving. In order to create, many pieces must come together to form something new and unique. This concept is brought to life through a system of hidden messages and cryptography, where a language of symbols is used in promotion and onsite activations. The festival audience is asked to translate the code to reveal new meanings and messages. Answers to each of the coded questions can be entered on a website to earn prizes and special experiences.
Hundreds of attendees answered the call for creativity and curiosity and successfully solved the puzzle. Prizes were given, goals were conquered.
ECD: Aaron Gresham
ACD: Ali Clark
Director / Editor: Brian Curtin
Cryptographer: Aaron Gresham
NEW Brand and design work for LP5 from St. Paul and The Broken Bones. Proud of the end result and work that went into this very personal album from the band. This existential and self-reflecting album has deep and complex metaphors relating to the state of the world, and a love letter to Birmingham.
Abstract: What happens when everything changes? When everything you believed is challenged. When the world is turned upside down, how does your perspective shift? There are moments in our lives that are so transformational, and so impactful that they cause us to step back and see ourselves and our existence in a new light. This perspective we gain becomes a lens that recolors and reshapes our world. In a time of separation, we seek connection with ourselves, with our families, and with our spirits. When ideas are too expansive to explain in practical terms, we use metaphors, and symbolism to share them. In our obligations and lists and goals that we strive to meet every day, we lose sight of why. This album is a profound and introspective journey that invites us all to step back and see what beauty and potential there truly is in this world.
Additional Credits:
Band Photography: Paige Sara
Birmingham Photography: Katie Erickson
BUY IT HERE
Recent brand identity work for the design practice of Michael Philip Curtis. It’s hard to beat a process that leads to a friendship.
The Alien Coast - 3000 AD MASS - OFFICIAL VIDEO
ECD / Concept: Aaron Gresham
Director / Editor: Brian Curtin
DP: Caleb Zorn
Producer: Kristin Dober
Gaffer: Seth Topher
Creature is the coming together of two radical-thinking companies. Golden Construction, a leader in the construction industry for over 20 years and Appleseed Workshop, an innovative architecture / design / manufacture firm. Their mission: radical change. The result is a single company where design, manufacturing, and construction are seamlessly integrated – dramatically reducing costs and timing throughout the project lifecycle while simultaneously improving quality. Radical change requires a brand that embodies this spirit. From the name of the company down to the color of their hard hats.
Additional Credits:
CCO: Ford Wiles
Director: Brian Curtin
Album Cover and branding for John Paul White and ”The Hurting Kind”. With The Hurting Kind, John Paul White has crafted a stunning album that draws on the lush, orchestrated music made in Nashville in the early 1960s. Yet these songs retain a modern feel, whether he’s writing about overwhelming love, unraveling relationships, or fading memory of a loved one.
John has cultivated a music career in Nashville for two decades, first as a songwriter for a major publisher, then half of The Civil Wars – a groundbreaking duo that won four Grammy Awards before disbanding in 2012. Because The Civil Wars were so hard to categorize, White has earned a fanbase among indie rock listeners, folk audiences, Americana outlets and AAA radio. So, what will happen if people hear The Hurting Kind and call it country? “Well that doesn’t scare me in the least,” he says. “As a matter of fact, it kind of thrills me.”
Worked with Golden Construction in Birmingham, Alabama to develop a comprehensive overhaul of their current brand – starting with their logo. Their previous mark was a generic icon building. Golden is a very progressive, modern builder - and the mark they were using was somewhat limiting. A bold, geometric approach would better reflect their current direction. This gallery shows some of the concept process, as well as the final dimensional icon.
Note: Earlier concepts are shown in the lower galleries.
New work for the artist Lonnie Holley. In support of his 2018-2019 MITH gallery tour and performance dates.
From Artsy.net:
Lonnie Holley is a man of many myths and talents. Born in Jim Crow-era Birmingham, Alabama, as the seventh of 27 children, Holley traveled across the South and held a wide array of jobs (grave digger, cotton picker, and short-order cook at Disney World) before making his first artwork at the age of 29. Self taught, he started carving sculptures from sandstone and then settled on his preferred material: found objects. Holley has made totemic sculptures from items such as steel scrap, plastic flowers, melted televisions, defunct machines, and crosses. His work has been collected by several museums, including the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Recently, Holley has also gained recognition for his music, and he has collaborated with the indie-rock bands Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective.
Concept and artwork for St. Paul and The Broken Bones' fourth album - The Alien Coast. NPR Article
Concept: In any journey, you may find yourself at a point where you face the unknown. This new territory is alien. Very much like the explorers of the old, we find ourselves seeking new territory. From the 1960s Mariner mission where we first saw detailed images of Mars, to the 2020 SpaceX realization that it may be our next home. As we venture further out into the universe, we brace ourselves for the discovery of intelligent life. In 1977 NASA and JPL launched the Voyager spacecraft and included a golden disc that was created as a way of introducing ourselves to other intelligent life that may discover the craft. At the same time, we find our current home to be alien. 2020 has taught us a lot about our true nature and brought into question our understanding of ourselves and our own planet. The majority of the Earth is alien to us. We have explored 35% of Earth to date and are looking for ways to preserve it as we see it change. While humanity is struggling for justice and equality, we are reminded by a disease that we are all human and are very much equal.
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Rebranding work done for Tucson International Airport. Insight: The aviation industry is constantly modernizing – in design, function and brand. People have raised their expectations for both carriers and airports, and their respective brands must rise to meet them.
Observation: Aviation brands are allowing themselves to be less corporate and more real. It’s as if they’ve finally realized the TSA isn’t screening their brands. Even though travel can be a hassle, marketing doesn’t have to be cold, distant or disingenuous.
Logo: Tuscon International Airport, because of its centralized location, tends to have flight paths equally distributed in all directions. In addition, Tucson is known for its desert beauty and number of sunny days. I used these two ideas to guide the logo. Desert stones and foliage inspired the color palette.
Worked with Jenny on her debut EP. “The Distance Between Us”. Jenny Marie Keris - a singer/songwriter based in Florence, Alabama. She has been playing guitar and writing songs since the age of twelve. For the past thirteen years, she been writing and recording demos of her original songs and has just completed her first EP. Her lyrics combine vivid imagery with personal stories, to create beautiful folk music. Personally I hear a definitive - Tori Amos vibe in her sound - a darkness, that is subtle and melodic.
Take one glance at the iconic tintype photograph which serves as the cover to his new album, Benton County Relic, and you know immediately that Cedric Burnside is the real deal. “When I first saw it, I thought I looked like an outlaw,” he laughs.
The 39-year-old still lives on several acres not far from the Holly Springs, Mississippi, home where he was raised by “Big Daddy,” his grandfather, the late singer/songwriter/guitarist R.L. Burnside whom Cedric famously played with, just as his own father, drummer Calvin Jackson, did. Cedric was literally born to the blues, more specifically, the “rhythmically unorthodox” Hill country variant which emerged from Mississippi.
Grammy-nominated in 2015 for Best Blues Album for the Cedric Burnside Project’s Descendants of Hill Country, as well as the recipient of the Blues Music Awards honor as Drummer of the Year for four consecutive years, Cedric’s latest album offers a showcase for his electric and acoustic guitar, recording 26 tracks in just two days with drummer/slide guitarist Brian Jay in the latter’s Brooklyn home studio in a rush of creativity. It’s his first release for Single Lock Records, the Florence, Alabama label headquartered across the Tennessee River from the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and responsible for critically acclaimed records by John Paul White, Nicole Atkins, Dylan LeBlanc and St. Paul & the Broken Bones.
A real pleasure working with Cedric - amazing player and a great personal journey. Also thanks to Single Lock Records for the continued partnership.
Steel and Civil Rights. That’s what we’ve always been known for, and not cast in the best light. But right now Birmingham, Alabama, is experiencing a renaissance. The downtown area is transforming into a thriving center of business and culture. With strong progressive leadership in place, private and public sectors are working together like never before for the greater good.
While Birmingham is thriving in many ways, the city can‘t escape its past. The legacy of segregation has created an opportunity gap with a generational impact. The city’s schools struggle to get students prepared for the workforce of the future, and many adults remain underemployed. Enter visionary private-sector leadership. Largely from the tech community and encouraged by forward thinkers at Alabama Power, they had an idea to make a generational statement in this city by fostering technical education for our most disadvantaged students.
Tim Cook? Yeah. That Tim Cook. He’s from south Alabama and is a proud of alumni of Auburn University - like many of the successful engineers driving the tech scene in the state. They knew they had a big idea that would get amplified on blast if he got involved. So they took the fledgling but growing concept called Ed Farm to Cupertino to see if Apple would want to engage. And they did – catapulting this effort into a transformative initiative, that combines innovative digital-centric curriculum with practical, hands-on classes. This new approach offers real opportunity to underserved children and adults.
Following a successful brand design and launch event (with lots of AR and digital tricks) the program and center are up and running. And it has created a tremendous outpouring of community support and press coverage. Ed Farm has filled all of its classes and teacher programs and is looking to expand.
Additional Credits:
Creative Director: Shannon Harris
Designer: Katie Erickson
Copywriter: John S. Kennedy
Senior Editor: Will Nash
Developer: Dan Gavin
Great artist and a great guy - had fun on this one. If you don’t know HISS Golden Messenger - you should. From Merge Records: Describing the Durham-based Hiss Golden Messenger is like trying to grasp a forgotten word: It’s always on the tip of your tongue, but hard to speak. Songwriter and bandleader M.C. Taylor’s music is at once familiar, yet impossible to categorize: Elements from the American songbook—the steady, churning acoustic guitar and mandolin, the gospel emotion, the eerie steel guitar tracings, the bobbing and weaving organ and electric piano—provide the bedrock for Taylor’s existential ruminations about parenthood, joy, hope, and loneliness—our delicate, tightrope balance of dark and light—that offer fully engaged contemporary commentary on the present. And then there’s an indescribable spirit and movement: Hiss Golden Messenger’s music grooves. There’s nothing else quite like it.
Printed by Scott Peek at Standard Deluxe
Special promotional poster for Record Store Day release of ”Young Sick Camellia”. Moon - Camellia - Record visuals inside of eyes, teasing the narrative surrounding the album.
One of many projects I have had the pleasure of working on with John Paul White. This poster is for a solo show performed at Standard Deluxe in Waverly, Alabama.
John Paul White is genuinely one of the good guys. Remarkable musician - both as a writer and a performer, he embraces his community, and supports other artists. This particular poster was inspire by a drive up to Florence, Alabama - where I saw these grain silos, alone and abandoned. I imagined a time when they were at the center of a prospering farm. Were those the good old days that White was singing about — or like his song, were these days good at all? I love the beauty and serenity in this decay.
Buy ”The Hurting Kind” Here.
Select excerpts from a proposed rebrand for Royal Cup Coffee and Tea. Founded in 1896, Royal Cup is one of the oldest and most respected brands in Birmingham, Alabama. They are a major importer and roaster of specialty coffees and fine teas with a nationwide distribution network. Shown here are selects from a comprehensive rebrand, including rebrands for HC Valentine (a premium line of coffees) and ROAR (a single serve coffee brand). To see their current branding - look here.
Work was done in collaboration with Creative Director: Matt Lane Harris.
Posters done for Vampire Weekend’s UK Tour - supporting their album - “Modern Vampires of the City.” The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts. This marks the second time Vampire Weekend has achieved such an historic feat: its sophomore album Contra also debuted at #1 in 2010, making this the first time an independent rock band has entered at #1 with two consecutive releases.
Took a playful graphic approach to these posters, and tried to build consistencies between the two. The double-decker buses that are iconic to London were being phased out, and I saw this as a last ride. The ideas was a Noah’s Ark of vampire animals. In the second piece, I wanted to use the idea of raining blood, but make it friendly. The umbrellas are used to reinforce the vampire idea, by forming a bat shape together.
Thanks to SJM Concerts and Vampire Weekend for the work.
At the beginning of the project - Dylan and I sat down and talked about the stories and inspiration behind the album. There is a strong theme of duality and balance, throughout his lyrics. Dark versus light – the decisions you make may seem grey and luck can be a factor. Life has so many decisions to make and the path you are on may be cloudy, only to reveal itself when you reach the destination. These ideas guided the design with a snake always tipping the scale. Used light and dark as contrasting ideas with image and type blending old and new for a more timeless look. Dylan LeBlanc, Jonathan Oliphant and all the folks at Single Lock Records were a joy to work with and this project was one of my favorites. The album (Dylan’s third) is phenomenal and has some familiar voices on it - both Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes and Paul Janeway from St. Paul & The Broken Bones contribute.
Purchase the album here.
St. Paul and The Broken Bones - branding and packaging for their amazing second album “Sea of Noise”. Released May 2016. Worked closely with Paul Janeway and the band to develop art that contains elements that are symbolic of all of the songs on the album. A really fun process - and you really need to see the foil emboss in person.
Buy it on Amazon
Brand identity work done for the Birmingham chapter of The American Advertising Federation. Developed a consistent visual language for the ADDY Awards across all platforms. After watching year and years of ADDY “concepts”, from awards that looked like meat to crystal balls and wadded up paper. Murder mystery themes and carnival themes, ultimately seemed to disregard the time and sacrifice of all the creatives that had entered their work. Fortunately - Paul Crawford at Scout Branding, created a consistent award - that is both sophisticated and appropriate. Though we had fixed the award - we hadn’t fixed the ”theme”. I let the award guide the system, much like Cannes, The Academy Awards, or The Oscars.
Award Photos: Rob Culpepper
A hands-on community of engineering professionals who work together to create and empower positive change in our neighborhoods, cities, nation, and world. The physical complex is a 140,000sq. foot facility on 6 acres/city blocks in the old industrial western section of Birmingham, Alabama. Hardware Park is an incubator that provides the equipment, resources, and space for new businesses, industry leaders, and visionaries of tomorrow to connect, create, and grow to their full potential. With enough capacity to house various initiatives, ranging from robotics to hardware and software development; design, manufacturing, education, and even retail, the park’s goal is to combine unique experiences, talents, tools, and creative thinking to build a better future, for all.
The Band of Heathens - Standard Deluxe, Waverly, Alabama, From: ”Americana Highways” - The Band of Heathens’ sound draws comparisons to groups like Little Feat and The Black Crowes, but the best description I’ve heard of their style is “Grateful Dead Americana.” While this is probably true of any Americana fan, I most appreciate bands who have a lack of respect for strict genres. I like that Jurdi’s vocals are more soul and R&B based, while Quist has a more straightforward singer-songwriter style, with some Memphis pop/country/soul added for good measure.
Printed by the Legendary Scott Peek
Branding and design work done for Pradco Outdoors. The Code Scent System is a line of science-driven products for hunters based on the fact that deer have poor eyesight, but an amazing sense of smell. CODE is an attractant line of scents, used to draw in deer by applying them on the ground and trees. DCODE is a scent elimination line you use on your body and gear to neutralize natural odors that deer detect.
Album art for first LP - Half the City from: St. Paul & The Broken Bones. ORDER IT HERE.
About St. Paul & The Broken Bones: Paul Janeway began wailing straight out of the womb, and most folks would agree that he hasn’t stopped since. “Oh what a set of lungs that child has,” they’d say, “he must be destined for something special.” Not wishing to disappoint, and being a good young southern boy, Paul began singing in church, stretching those vocal cords with an eye toward becoming a man of the cloth. As it turns out, however, the cloth didn’t appreciate young Paul’s affinity for dirty jokes, Prince, and Tom Waits, and he was inclined to search elsewhere for co-conspirators. He began plying his trade with whomever would have him, and happily, folks were mostly impressed by his efforts. With a wholly re-imagined take on the sounds he’d grown up singing and seeking, Paul recruited a rag-tag band of loveable weirdoes, visionaries, and hacks to help him harness the power he now knew he possessed. Under the nom du guerre St. Paul and the Broken Bones, the motley crew roams the countryside looking to get cabooses shakin’, faces meltin’, and brothers and sisters everywhere testifyin’.
Over the past 5 years - I have had the pleasure of working with Shovel & Rope on a wide variety of projects. They are truly great artists and great humans.
From All Eyes Media:
As the Brontë sister wrote, “The ties that bind us to life are tougher than you imagine.” Shovels & Rope, the musical duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, embody that bond. Married for a decade, their covenant extends to blood and beyond: as parents, bandmates, and creative collaborators who can now add the pursuits of festival curators, film subjects, and children’s book authors to that mighty list. Having released four studio albums and two collaborative projects (Busted Jukebox, Vol. 1 & 2) since 2008, Trent and Hearst have built their reputation on skill, sweat, and, yes, blood. Now, with the tough and elegant new record By Blood, as well as their High Water Festival in their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, “Shovels & Rope: The Movie”, and the picture book “C’mon Utah!”, Shovels & Rope are primed for their biggest year yet.
Photo: Jeff Wilson
Posters done for John Moreland shows at Standard Deluxe (Waverly, Alabama). A little about John: Characterized as a "songwriter's songwriter," American television host and political commentator Rachel Maddow tweeted praise of Moreland's work: "If the American music business made any sense, guys like John Moreland would be household names." Moreland tours extensively, and is one of the best social follows you will find. Three of Moreland's songs, "Heaven," "Gospel," and "Your Spell" have been featured on the TV show, Sons of Anarchy. On a personal note: His latest album is one of the best I have heard in years. If you don’t leave my page immediately and go listen - then you really have to question what you are doing with your life.
Screenprinted by: The Legendary Scott Peek at Standard Deluxe.
Work done for Eric Clapton’s World Tour
. What an amazing experience, one of the coolest projects of my career. The man is a living legend: Eric Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. He ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Eric decided to do a short tour composed of all make-up dates, for shows he had cancelled over the years in the U.S. and then Asia. The two represent the North American version and one for Asia. The idea behind the posters came from his agent, who thought it would be cool to feature two of Eric’s favorite trucks from his personal collection.
Many thanks to Scott Peek at Standard Deluxe for giving me the opportunity to work with The Legendary - Eric Clapton.
Photo: © Bob Minkin, Cache Agency
Posters for Mavis Staples, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery Marches of 1965. Incredible honor to get to work with Ms. Staples.
Mavis Staples will doubtlessly go down in history as one of the greatest gospel singers of all time, the breathtaking voice powering one of America's great family bands, The Staple Singers. From the traditional gospel music of the 1950s to the 1960s protest songs that underscored some of the decade's most dramatic social changes, from the self-empowerment anthems of the 1970s to the soulful love tunes and mature Americana of more recent years, Staples and her family have consistently created some of the best and most inspirational music of the past half-century.
Printed by Standard Deluxe.
Poster designed for The Civil Wars show in Waverly, Alabama. Design inspired by the minimalist nature of their music and at the same time the fierce nature and emotion of the content of their songs. I usually draw inspiration from the name of the band and then the sound. From the bands bio page: In some ways, music doesn't get much more modest or minimalist than it is in the hands of The Civil Wars, a duo comprised of California-to-Nashville transplant Joy Williams and her Alabaman partner, John Paul White. They travel without a backup band, and on their first full-length album, Barton Hollow, the bare-bones live arrangements that fans hear on the road are fleshed out with just the barest of acoustic accoutrements. Each song is an intimate conversation, and no third wheels or dinner-party chatter are going to interrupt that gorgeous, haunting hush.
Printed by Standard Deluxe, Thanks to Scott Peek for bringing The Civil Wars to Waverly, Alabama.
Since 1979, Holley has devoted his life to the practice of improvisational creativity. His art and music, born out of struggle, hardship, but perhaps more importantly, out of furious curiosity and biological necessity, has manifested itself in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and sound. Holley’s sculptures are constructed from found materials in the oldest tradition of African American sculpture. Objects, already imbued with cultural and artistic metaphor, are combined into narrative sculptures that commemorate places, people, and events. His work is now in collections of major museums throughout the country, on permanent display in the United Nations, and been displayed in the White House Rose Garden. In January of 2014, Holley completed a one-month artist-in-residence with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in Captiva Island, Florida, site of the acclaimed artist’s studio.
Learn more about Lonnie Holley
Printed by Standard Deluxe
Cover and interior artwork for the Nahollo Chronicles - a trilogy written by Stephen Gresham. This is probably my favorite project of all time, as it marks the first true collaboration between my dad and I.
The Nahollo Chronicles are a trilogy set in the swamps of east Alabama. Each book is a journal entry by Jessica Lovelia DeGresse, a woman who has left society and made her home in a cabin by the Nahollo swamp. The books crystalize the boundaries between good and evil, human and monster, love and hate, and natural and supernatural. The artwork was developed to show the duality as a concrete and definable thing. The balance is the journey. I wanted to draw heavily from older styles, using a yellow strike for the duality symbol - and old press type, as well as, engravings to be timeless and somewhat esoteric in form. The images are meant to complement the story and push the reader into deeper translations of what is actually occurring.
Available on Amazon - Buy them here:
Brand design work done for Nashville, Tennessee’s - Great Peacock - From their bio: “After half a decade spinning wheels on the Great American Highway, through the brutal heartbreaks and dire sacrifices that come with chasing the mythical rock & roll dragon, Great Peacock’s Andrew Nelson and Blount Floyd have finally eased up on the throttle. Like rock & roll as it transitioned from the erratic abandon of the late ’60s to the country-tinged storytelling of the early ’70s—donning cowboy boots and dipping its bucket in the well of American folk music—they’ve put their electric guitars back in the case, rolled their stacks back from 11, and let a serene hush wash over them. Their sound now? Beautiful, unadorned, moving—the bountiful harvest of a deep friendship and an unbreakable musical bond”
The FLATSTOCK poster show series is presented by the American Poster Institute (API). It is an ongoing series of exhibitions featuring the work of many of the most popular concert poster artists working today. Both the API and its FLATSTOCK series were organized in 2002 as a result of conversations between interested artists and supporters frequenting the popular web site GigPosters.com. The best concert posters have always captured both the essence of the music they promoted and the spirit of the time in which they were produced. This is as true today as it was in San Francisco during the Sixties. The FLATSTOCK shows provide the general public with an ongoing series of opportunities to see fine poster art in person and to meet the artists who’ve created it – they provide the API with a way to present the poster artists collectively while showcasing the breadth of individual styles they represent.
Work done for the ICC - rebranding and standardization of identity systems. As the authoritative body in building codes - The International Code Council (ICC) was established in 1994 as a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. Since the early part of the last century, these non-profit organizations developed three separate sets of model codes used throughout the United States. Although regional code development has been effective and responsive to our country’s needs, the time came for a single set of codes. The nation’s three model code groups responded by creating the International Code Council and by developing codes without regional limitations; the International Codes. To reinforce the consistency of application - the identity system need to be very practical and provide meaningful hierarchy of information.
Poster for The Naked and Famous a five piece indie band hailing from Auckland, New Zealand. The band comprises of Thom Powers, Alisa Xayalith, Aaron Short, David Beadle and Jesse Wood. According to the Young Blood Songfacts, they took the name from a line in UK trip hop singer-songwriter Tricky’s track, Tricky Kid.
After their initial formation in 2008, their debut album “Passive Me, Aggressive You” was released on the “Somewhat Damaged” label during September 2010. The single “Young Blood” debuted at number one on the New Zealand chart - the first New Zealand artist to do so in three years.
One of my favorite video projects, props to Blake Hicks (Art Direction/Editing) and Jordan Sowards (Copywriting/Editing + Sound/V.O.), great collaboration and teamwork - always more fun when you have great creative minds to work with.
About the IRC:
Jacksonville State University - IRC (Institute for Research and Collaboration) facilitates the interaction between the researcher and the granting agency. As part of a learning-centered university, their goal is to provide services for sponsored programs to the faculty, staff, and students at Jacksonville State University –focusing on filling and creating the jobs of the future in fields such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Nursing, Emergency Management, and Education.
Brand identity work for Chef Frank Stitt’s restaurants: Bottega and Highland Bar and Grill. About Chef Stitt - excerpt from The Alabama Academy of Honor: Frank Stitt III, is a renowned chef, accomplished cookbook writer, and highly successful restaurateur. During the past two decades, he has set national standards for culinary excellence and put Birmingham on the map as home to world-class dining. In 1982, Stitt opened Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, blending French techniques with Deep South ingredients. Highlands was an immediate success. He opened three more restaurants in Birmingham – Bottega in 1988, Café Bottega in 1990, and Chez Fonfon in 2000. A praiseworthy New York Times article about Birmingham summed it up this way: “There are two eras of restaurants in Birmingham, before Frank and after Frank; it’s like B.C. and A.D.”
Additional credits:
Ford Wiles-CCO
Charlotte Wyatt-AD
Building Photo: Birmingham Magazine
