Available for select 2026 projects
Design · Story · Civic Strategy
Hello. I’m Steven.

I help communities turn bold ideas
into actually built projects

Streit Creative blends brand design, narrative, and municipal strategy to move projects from slide decks and council packets into real groundbreakings.

13+ years as mayor Brand & digital studio lead Brownfield & site-readiness focus
View selected work↳ Schedule a conversation

Perfect fit if you’re a city, agency, or developer who needs both the story and the strategy to unlock funding, align stakeholders, and make complex sites feel inevitable.

Profile snapshot
Steven Streit
Brand Designer & Civic Strategist
  • 13 years as Mayor of Lockport, IL — turning big visions into built realities.
  • Founder of OH Design Group, working with municipalities, utilities & private clients.
  • Special focus on brownfields, distressed corridors, and quietly powerful local stories.
Brand & Web Municipal Consulting Site Readiness
✶ Design that plays well with councils, engineers & residents.
Trusted by civic & industry partners
City of Lockport, IL SumpTek Utilities Complete Fleet Services Regional planning partners Developers & site owners
Grounded in real-world implementation — not just pretty decks.
Signal, not noise

What I bring to the table

You don’t need another thousand-page report. You need a clear story, a credible site plan, and design that gives your stakeholders confidence to say “yes.”

Years in office
13+
As mayor of Lockport, IL — leading historic downtown revival, infrastructure upgrades, and complex public-private partnerships.
Projects touched
100+
From brand systems and web platforms to corridor strategies, brownfield concepts, and redevelopment narratives.
Core focus
3 pillars
Design that’s clear and modern.
Story that travels from council to capital.
Strategy that unlocks funding & political will.
Selected work

Projects I’ve helped move forward

A mix of municipal, private, and hybrid projects — all anchored in a clear narrative, credible visuals, and practical paths to “go.”

Municipal · Redevelopment vision Lockport, IL

Old industrial corridor into living main street

A long-ignored industrial stretch reframed as a walkable, mixed-use district. We combined simple visualizations, phasing strategy, and a grounded narrative that connected infrastructure investments to economic and human outcomes.

District storytelling Council-ready visuals Stakeholder alignment
Client · Brand & web SumpTek Utilities

Making invisible infrastructure understandable

For a specialized utilities partner, we paired a clean brand system with a narrative that made highly technical work legible to municipalities, boards, and residents — without dumbing anything down.

Brand system Website design Technical storytelling
Client · Brand & positioning Complete Fleet Services

From local shop to master technicians

Repositioning a diesel service company to lead with “master certified technicians” and industrial capability — while still feeling approachable and human for long-time clients.

Positioning Web redesign Industrial focus
In progress · Partnership concept Intersect Illinois & DCEO

A statewide lens on site readiness

Exploring a framework to help Illinois communities identify, package, and communicate brownfield and distressed sites — aligning local objectives with state-level vetted site programs and investment criteria.

Framework design State & local alignment Brownfields
Context matters

Design that understands how cities really work

Streit Creative is intentionally small. It’s how I stay close to the work, the stakeholders, and the politics that decide whether projects live or die.

I’ve spent more than a decade on both sides of the table — commissioning design work as a mayor, and delivering it as a studio owner.

That means I know how plans and pitches land in the real world: how they read in a packet, how they sound during public comment, what your engineer worries about, and what your residents will notice first.

My work is less about awards and more about clarity: clarity of story, clarity of risk, clarity of next step. If we work together, expect a partner who cares as much about your council vote and funding stack as your color palette.

What people say

Working together feels collaborative, not theatrical

A few representative voices from people I’ve worked alongside — as a mayor, collaborator, and creative partner.

01 / 03
“Steven has that rare combination of big-vision storytelling and pragmatic, city-hall realism. He knows how to make projects look exciting without overselling what’s possible.”
Placeholder Name · Municipal Collaborator