Starlight Square
Designing a Neighborhood's Gathering Place.
Starlight Square began as a bold idea: transform a City-owned parking lot in Central Square into a freely accessible public space for the residents of Cambridge and the surrounding communities. The Central Square Business Improvement District, Flagg Street Studio, and Boyes-Watson Architects initiated the project in 2020, during a moment when the need for accessible, equitable public space had never felt more urgent.
I served as Creative Director for the brand and environmental graphic work through Contraire, a partnership that continued from 2020 through 2024.
The Work
I developed the visual identity from the ground up, creating a brand that felt warm, inclusive, and rooted in the character of Central Square — energetic without being exclusive, civic without feeling institutional.
From that foundation, I directed the environmental signage system throughout the space, designed the website, social media templates, and merchandise, and developed neighborhood communications, partnership and sponsorship materials, and email marketing. The work spanned everything a permanent civic space needs to feel fully realized—from the graphics on its structures to the way it showed up in someone's inbox.
Outcome
In its first five years, Starlight Square hosted over 350 events by 225+ local arts and cultural organizations, reinvested $375,000 in local artists and organizations, supported hundreds of entrepreneurs through Popportunity, and modeled a youth employment track that empowers young people to be the face of their own community. The project was so successful that it extended well beyond its original duration and demonstrated proof of what's possible when a community has a place to gather.
Client: Central Square Business Improvement District
Project Lead: Flagg Street Studio
Architect: Boyes-Watson Architects
Creative Director, Brand + Environmental Graphics: Courtney Perti / Contraire