The Joseph Nashville

When I moved to Ohio in the summer of 2016, Patrick told me to do many things to get to know Columbus, his hometown. For anyone who knows Patrick, my list of to-do's might sound familiar (incomplete and in no particular order): 1) Hike in Hocking Hills; 2) Try both The Top and Hyde Park and let him know which I think is better; 3) Try both Jeni's and Graeter's and let him know which I think is better; 4) Visit city parks; 5) Go to museums—and especially, go to the Pizzuti Collection.

I've spent countless hours riding in the passenger seat of Patrick's car, seeing his beloved city up-close, learning about its history and potential and flaws and gifts. Windows down, suspension stiff in his blacked-out Jeep, we've driven the entire wingspan of the city: from the airport to the western outer belt; through campus to historical Worthington; from up-and-coming Franklinton to always-been-here Bexley. The first time I was here, Patrick took me from German Village to the Southside, where he's from. On the way back north he introduced me to High Banks. Proudly, he welcomed me to Columbus.

Patrick knows and loves Columbus more than many people know and love the places where they grew up. He also cares deeply about telling the truth. Getting to the heart of business problems (which often have to do with telling the truth about who you are and why you do what you do) is why we at Blackletter come to work every day.

A trained painter, as well, Patrick's sensitivity with and magnetism to art undergirds pretty much everything he does. Good art, like intelligence, is full of paradox; it allows for tension. When he told me to go hiking and see neighborhoods and try steakhouses and compare different ice cream shops, he was less telling me to go enjoy myself and more telling me to go find out about this place and its complications. Because its details are important. For every place and every person, the details matter.

So when we were approached by The Pizzuti Companies to guide them in the brand development for The Joseph Hotel's second location, coming to Nashville in 2020, we couldn't imagine a better fit. Sitting in preliminary meetings, discussing Nashville's indigenous story and how to tell the truth about it in a premier hotel that will open experiences of living with art to its guests—well, how do I say this? We freaked.

New partnership announcements don't always invite me to go on and on about how working with companies whose values match ours is an invitation to step further into building the kind of branding firm we dream about, but this one is a freebie. We are absolutely thrilled to be at the start of a relationship with The Pizzuti Companies. We begin in Nashville. Where we continue from there depends on how good of a job we do. I guess we better get to work.