The City as a Hand-Drawn Canvas

As Told By: Frank Norton

When I describe what I do to someone who has never been here, I characterize it as illustrative branding. I work mostly with food, beverage, and hospitality clients, and it usually sparks the question: “Isn’t that all digital now?” I use the computer as a refining tool, but all of my work is drawn by hand. This has increasingly been something that differentiates my work. It is a way of ensuring that our visual landscape signals something inclusive, unusual, and expressive.

I have been drawing my whole life. I think I realized my ultimate goal was to have my own studio and build a creative practice based on my own unique talents and perspective after interning with the illustrator Luba Lukova in Queens. It is really challenging to know what is possible until you see someone else living out that example. I’ve spent the last 15 years treating Kansas City as my studio, working with the local businesses that trust me to contribute to their visual imprint on the city.

Kansas City represents a balance of comfort and opportunity for me. I love the creative culture here, and I love that I can afford a studio space. My perspective was shaped in Waldo, the neighborhood that has anchored me for over a decade. Home is popping down the street to McClain’s Bakery, visiting KC Bier Co, or riding my bike down the Trolley Track Trail. I take these things for granted, but they are core feelings of home.

I prefer to move through the city at a pace that allows me to see the details. Staying at the Crossroads Hotel always reminds me how walkable parts of Kansas City are. Driving is convenient, but you absorb so many more aesthetic details when you are on foot. I view the city’s historic theaters, like the Midland and the Uptown, as treasures. They have preserved a style of lavishly detailed architecture that would never be built today.

For an authentic experience, I look toward the Nerman Museum. It is not talked about enough. They have a great permanent collection and have been curating some incredible shows lately. I find that same expressive spirit at Blip Roasters in the West Bottoms, just down the street from my studio. They offer a great afternoon respite and have been hosting great live comedy shows over the past few years.

Since moving my studio to the Livestock Exchange Building, the West Bottoms has become my daily anchor. Throughout the day, you can smell the smoke from The Golden Ox, spent grain from Stockyards Brewery Co., and coffee from the Ox Cafe. My windows are usually open, and I hear the noise of the trains passing through, live music at Lemonade Park, and motorcycles rolling down Genessee.

There’s a distinct brand of hospitality here made special by the unique people and cultures that make up this place. I hope there remains room and affordability for the small businesses and individuals who contribute to the heart of the metro. Come to the Crossroads and embrace unpredictability. Kansas City has so many flavorful details if you take the time to look.