Black Noize: The HBCU Marching Band Experience
In this project, we were tasked with designing the inner workings of a museum exhibit with narrative literature for attendees when they arrive. I chose to design Black Noize: The HBCU Marching Band Experience, a museum exhibit dedicated to the Historical black College and University Marching band style, history, and influence. The narrative literature chosen was trading cards featuring each school’s band name with a brief history of their contribution to music.
The visual Identity of the brand was combining the collegiate style with an urban flare. With an unapologetically black color palette and a scrapbook collage layout, everything came together to create a cohesive experience.
Museum attendees walk into the exhibit experiencing a decorative collage explaining the purpose behind the Black Noize Exhibit.
Once attendees enter into the main atrium of the exhibit, it is as if they are stepping onto the field as the band. On the main wall, you can dive into the history of the HBCU style marching band. When you turn around, the left wall details a timeline of the cultural influence in the US. Finally, the right wall lists every HBCU band name across the US.
In 2009, African American football legend and HBCU alumni Doug Williams partnered with Nergyzed Entertainment to create College Football: The Experience video game on Xbox 360 consoles. Unique to other football franchises, this game gave players the ability to control their team's band at halftime in a battle of the bands competition. This portion of the exhibit gives visitors the opportunity to test their ability on the field as their favorite HBCU marching band.
Tasked with creating complimenting narrative literature that wasn't a standard brochure or pamphlet. What better way than to incorporate a sporty theme than with trading cards? Each attendee will receive their own pack of trading cards containing 5 HBCU bands. Each will feature a brief history and impact on music. This allows visitors to not only have a collectible, but it drives interaction with other visitors and generates traffic as they may want to collect more.
