Diamond Deli

The Diamond Deli is one of Akron’s most famous sandwich shops and eateries. Their menu is legendary, and on any given day of the week you may find a smoothly moving line of people stretched out the door and around the corner. They’re that good.

In 2016, Mac created The King of Diamonds for the back wall of the dining area. Based on the overwhelming response the painting received, the owners asked if Mac could do a drawing of their business for a new t-shirt. He sat outside one fall morning and created the sketch that became this ink drawing. Although the art was never used for a t-shirt, it is prominently featured opposite the register and helped inspire our creation of the Akron on Deck playing card set to support local businesses and artists through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lose Your Marble

Akron kicked off the Civic Commons project  in conjunction with GEHL to collaborate with local leaders and residents to learn about, strategize, and develop innovative solutions for the city center's most pressing challenges. Our team was tasked with "Making Main Street More Fun Between Events," or more specifically, getting students and the local workforce to spend time downtown during off-peak hours. Inspired by Akron's history as the former marble capital of the world, we created Lose Your Marble, an interactive kinetic piece of art that would require teams of individuals to move from station to station in the downtown area. We created two prototypes to see if people would be willing to engage in the activity and were pleasantly surprised by the response. With plans to further develop the concept with an incentivized structure to attract more people, and to use higher quality and more reliable materials, we are confident Lose Your Marble can become a signature team-building feature of the Akron.

King of Diamonds

The Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA championship the year our family moved to Akron. To commemorate the occasion, we created an iconic painting to honor Lebron James and his dedication to the Akron community. King of Diamonds was gifted to Akron's Diamond Deli so that local residents could share in this unforgettable celebration.