BlackSpace

BlackSpace demands a present and future where Black people, Black spaces, and Black culture matter and thrive. They are a collective of urbanists, architects, policymakers, artists, and advocates co-creating spaces that affirm and amplify Black presence in public spaces. As our 2022 Build. Grow. Serve. Pro-Bono partner, we partnered with BlackSpace to create an evolved brand, design system, and a reimagined digital experience that empowers BlackSpace to scale their mission and organization into the future they are building.

Defining the future, together

BlackSpace is on a path of exponential growth, and our work was a crucial part of their organization’s success. We quickly formed an integrated team and collaborative model of working to ensure that we could hear from all voices to elevate their vision. From immersion sessions and stakeholder interviews to collaborative workshops, we utilized our shared perspectives to help shape the foundation for the brand refresh and site redesign. Part of the BlackSpace manifesto is to “Move at the speed of trust”—which became how we approached this meaningful work together.

Grid of 1 - 5 showcasing words like Playful and Digital along with quotes that say: "Soft Power" "Embrace the duality of our innovation both in our ecosystem but also in the work itself" "Our messaging should feel like a hug: soft & accessible

Honoring Black History

The BlackSpace wordmark we designed is a bespoke take on Bayard, a contemporary typeface inspired by signage from the 1960’s March On Washington. It stands bold in all caps, while exuding a playful essence with its rounded edges. We honor the past by bringing it to the present day, then use it as a banner for our movement to build Black futures.

Collage of a buildings and statues of MLK and Major Taylor.

A scalable design language

We evolved the current BlackSpace brand’s visual identity to elevate awareness, recognition, and consistency—and expand their design language to reflect the complexities of their work and the communities they serve. Through visual territories and brand spectrum exercises, we identified tensions and aligned on a shared understanding as a unified team - focusing on what would not only work for them today, but their visions for their future.

Collage of fonts, colors, people, and landscapes of a home and city scape.

An authentic brand voice

We developed and documented voice and tone guidelines keeping in mind the diverse groups BlackSpace speaks to and for. We took a nuanced and considered approach to bridge the gap between how they wanted to sound while maintaining the authentic voice they'd already established amongst their audience.

Different rectangles that say: BlackSpace is a community of Black urbanists who unite to protect and co-create meaningful spaces in Black communities. We work to strengthen Black communities for social and spatial change. We demand a present and future where Black people, Black Spaces, and Black culture thrive. Playful: We're comfortable with our audience and want the joy of our work to come through in our content-particularly when we're celebrating or gathering. Flexible: We're creative with adjectives and how we describe things to bering more texture and life to our words. We'll take any opportunity to add character to the mundane. That's why they're not just affiliates; they're Cousins. Organic: As a human-centered collective, we want our voice to reflect that. We write the way we speak to maintain authenticity.

Billboards that show children walking and people playing basketball that say: Center Black joy and Black life - Inspire the leaders that create Black futures.

A meaningful space online

As a group, BlackSpace is focused on neighborhoods, the built environment, and design and urban planning. Not only did their website need to function as a tool that could facilitate their work around these spaces, but we wanted to provide the same level of care to their digital home as they do the built environment. We created a destination that was easy to use and maintain, crafting an authoring experience and design system tailored for their growing team. Through listening, planning, and ultimately a streamlined home with utility and storytelling equally elevated, we were able to carve out a meaningful new front door and experience.

Empowering BlackSpace for the future

Our entire mission with our Build. Grow. Serve. program is to support and empower organizations that do the same for systemically excluded communities. And as such, we wanted to ensure that BlackSpace had the tools they needed to set them up for success for the bold future they are creating. Through comprehensive playbooks, a scalable and user-friendly design library and website, their brand and digital presence can grow alongside their organization.

We are honored to have embarked on this journey together, and thank BlackSpace for their work, and their partnership.

Our Roles

Engineering

Technical Strategy
Systems Architecture
Deployment Architecture
Front-end Development
Back-end Development
Augmented Reality

Strategy

UX Strategy
Brand Strategy
Information Architecture
Content Strategy
Launch Planning

Content

Story Research
Editorial Writing
Copywriting
Motion Video Direction
Motion Video Production
Post Production
Sound design

Design

UX / UI Design
Art Direction
Visual Design
Creative Direction
Motion Design