Event Branding Design
DuSable Museum
Project Overview
After having been closed since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
the DuSable Museum of African American History reopened to the public on “Juneteenth” (Saturday, June 19, 2021), with a “Welcome Back” ceremony and “Block party” featuring Chance the Rapper (and the “Save Money” collective), celebrating the return to business and normalcy for the nation’s longest-running independent Black History Museum.
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Association: Zeno Group
- Client: DuSable Museum
- Role: Art Direction, Brand Strategy, Illustration & Graphic Design
- Elements: Logos, Icons, Colors, Event Branding Materials, Social & Templates
- Year: 2021
STRATEGY
The overwhelming mood of the Museum’s reopening was “hopefulness” as the survival of the Museum was questioned during its unprecedented closure.
From this, came a strategy of creating a simple but resonant design system that was both relevant to current events and authentic to the Museum. I focused on infusing the idea of hopefulness throughout all of the designs and collateral for the reopening weekend’s press, member, visitor, and community events.
Design APPROACH
The visual direction was directly inspired by the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, due to its parallels with the Museum’s mission, history, and namesake. “Lift every voice and sing” is known as the “Black National Anthem” and details hopefulness, togetherness and strength, and vision in the midst of, and despite strife, struggle, and tragedy; a sentiment present in Juneteenth (marking the actual end of legalized slavery), current events, and the Museum’s identity.
The hand-drawn elements (including the custom typeface) used flowing shapes, familiar imagery (The “Chicago Star”, John Baptiste DuSable, etc.), and minimal colors to subtly communicate the lyrics of the song as well as ideas of a grassroots community, progress, steadfastness, and interconnectedness while highlighting important parts of the “story” (of all of the elements combined).
