The Black Wall Street Legacy Festival marks the significant time each year between the anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and Juneteenth. The festival launched in 2021 and brought together Tulsans and out-of-town visitors alike to learn about this history and its implications; honor the Race Massacre’s victims, survivors, and their descendants; and celebrate Black excellence.
To help festival leaders create a name and brand, we facilitated a collaborative naming process consisting of several workshop meetings that sourced ideas from festival leaders and community members, ultimately landing on the name “Black Wall Street Legacy Festival.” We then dove into a story-centric branding process. The designers on this project conducted hours of historical research and tried to bring more meaning to their designs by incorporating meaningful style elements.
Finally, we built a website (www.blackwallstreetlegacyfest.com) to house the festival calendar with over 100 events, vendor and volunteer information, a shop Black Wall Street guide, as well as historical information of the legacy of Greenwood.
Legacy Fest’s visual identity consists of 100 unique marks inspired by African art to represent 100 years passed since the Tulsa Race Massacre. The brand’s color scheme honors the Pan-African flag representing liberation and growth. The typeface of the logo, Martin, was designed by Tré Seals, a Black artist and founder of Vocal Type Co.
Reverent
Serious
Timeless
Bold
Emotional
Storied
yellow
#F4AB0B
bone
#FFFFF4
red
#CE2215
green
#327C13
black
#232121
taupe
#F2DDC0
This concept is inspired by how much of this subject matter is wrapped up in specific events (1921 Race Massacre, Juneteenth, Race Massacre Centennial, etc.), and by how much words matter in this branding.
The world relies so heavily on photographs. They give us an understanding of what was happening during a specific moment by creating a feeling and a story.