Green starburst background with a yellow starburst swoop and red, blue, white, and black text

Northwestern Central Dupage Hospital has provided acute medical care services to Chicagoans for over 50 years. In 2010, the hospital earned Magnet recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for excellence in nursing.

In the center is a color photograph of a Black man in a dress United States Army uniform. The photograph is surrounded by white text on a black background.

This button celebrates the retirement of Joe Shakeenab from the United States military in 2010. Since retirement from military life, Shakeenab built a second career as a private leadership consultant, city councilman for Clarksville, Tennessee, community organization committee member and president of the Austin Peay State University alumni center. He also wrote two books: one about working for a US military service operation in Somalia in the 1990s, and the other a book of poetry "illustrating the phases (physical – moral – spiritual) of my fatherless life which I have grown to understand."

Multicolored graffiti-style text on a black background

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice based on the character of Joseph from the book of Genesis in the Bible. The musical came to development when Webber’s longtime friend, Alan Doggett, a musical teacher at Colet Court school in London, commissioned Webber and Rice to write a 15-minute pop cantata for the school's choir. On March 1, 1968 the students of the Colet Court school performed the first iteration of the musical which was met by a standing ovation and the offer of a deal by music publishers Novello and Co.

More than half a century and many productions later, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat continues to be appreciated by crowds of varying demographics, delivering the story of Joseph in a captivating and entertaining way. 

Neon green background with black text and a simple black illustrated sideways smiley face

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

In the 1980s the sideways smiley face was popularized by early internet users to mark jokes using :) or :-) (a combination of the keyboard's colon, dash and right parenthetical marks).

Off-white background with blue text, a blue ring around the outside, and a blue illustration of a can in the center

Or can you? The US Prohibition era lasted from the ratification of the 18th Amendment, which banned the consumption of alcohol in the United States starting in 1920, to the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which repealed this law in 1933.

Black and white photograph of two men kissing with black text on a white background below.

ACT UP was a grassroots advocacy movement that happened in the late-1980s in response to the AIDS pandemic. As this button shows, LGBTQ activists tackled anti-queer sentiment and social stigma that exacerbated the crisis, including through public displays of affection. The demonstrations of ACT UP were foundational to curbing the AIDS crisis and improving medical care for people worldwide.

Black background with a khaki-colored abstract design ring around the outside and white, khaki, and black text

In Chicago, Illinois on July 10, 2010, jazz musicians Jason Steele Quartet, Matt Ulery’s Loom, and Gunnelpumpers all performed in the small bar and music venue, Martyrs’. 

Jason Steele is an acclaimed jazz musician and composer. Matt Ulery’s Loom consists of Thad Franklin on trumpet, Tim Haldeman on tenor saxophone, Jon Deitemyer on drums, Rob Clearfield on accordian and piano, Zach Brock on violin, and Matt Ulery on double bass and compositions. The Gunnelpumpers band was founded in Chicago in 2002 by bassist and composer Douglas Johnson and percussionist Randy Farr. The main group consists of Johnson, Farr, rock guitarist John Meyer, Chicago Symphony bassist Michael Hovnanian, and session musicians Tom Mendel on bass guitar and Bob Garrett on drums. However, they have had 50 musicians perform alongside them. 

Black and white kaleidoscope-like pattern on the top and bottom with black stylized text on the left-center and red text on the right-center

Beginning with the first annual event in 2010, Chicago Design Week is a professional conference for designers hosted yearly by AIGA Chicago, a local chapter of the AIGA professional association for design. The sponsorship branding on the button is from the global architecture, planning and design business Gensler.

Illustrated red heart with a white cross in the center and black block-letter text on a white background

This is a variation of the I heart NY logo that was created in 1977 by Milton Glaser for an ad campaign created by advertising agency Wells Rich Greene. The marketing campaign was sought by then-Deputy Commissioner William S. Doyle to increase tourism in the state of New York. The campaign was a wild success. The original sketch of the logo is permanently on display at the MOMA.
 

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Red cursive text on a light blue background

Jennifer Gentle is an Italian psychedelic rock group formed in 2000. They take particular inspiration from the 1960s band Pink Floyd, but incorporate a wide variety of styles and instruments. The band received international attention after the release of their second album in 2002, and have since gone on tour in the US, UK, EU, and China. In 2004, they became the first Italian band to be signed to the record label Sub Pop.