The work extended well beyond the campaign. Frankie produced promotional media kits for use across marketing and social platforms, and oversaw the teams developing the festival’s mascot, Manny, along with its installations and photo ops.
One highlight was a 6-foot-tall, carnival-style photo cutout that invited guests to step in and become part of the festival themselves.
Manifest Urban Arts Festival | Creative Direction
Manifest is Columbia College Chicago’s annual celebration of student creativity, a free, public festival featuring performances, screenings, gallery exhibitions, fashion shows, and literary readings. As Chicago’s largest student-powered arts festival, the 2025 event brought together more than 2,000 artists, 80+ events, and 15,000 attendees.
Buente Creative founder Frankie Buente served as the festival’s Creative Director, shaping the creative vision behind an event of that scale. Keeping students at the center, Frankie helped revitalize engagement through a student-driven campaign that set records for pre-event attendance and online shares.
Like much of Frankie’s work, Manifest “Imagine” incorporated primarily physical media scanned in and manipulated digitally, such as a full torn paper font.
