Black & Abroad’s Go Back to Africa was bold, provocative and demanded to be noticed. Tough act for agency Performance Act to follow – especially as its work was an awards champ in 2019 – with the Grand Prix in Creative Data at Cannes, a D&AD Black Pencil, and the Global Grand Effie in Positive Change among its awards.
But that tough act is being followed, by a powerful data-driven domestic travel platform called The Black Elevation Map, once again by agency, Performance Art.
The platform, which lives at BlackElevationMap.com, takes cultural data, including Black population data, historical markers, Black-owned businesses and social media activity, and visualises them as points of interest on a dynamic, searchable elevation map of the United States. The greater the density of data, the higher the elevation.
“From redlining to modern urban planning, you don’t have to look far to see ways in which maps have been used to marginalize, divide and oppress communities around the world,” stated Eric Martin, chief creative officer and co-founder, Black & Abroad. “We wanted to help Black travellers see the country in a way that prioritizes and celebrates the contributions of folks who look like us – and facilitates travel choices that deepen engagement within our community. Repurposing a traditional elevation map is a way for us to weave joy and uplift into the story, the experience, and our interpretation of the data.”
In addition to thousands of places of interest, the Black Elevation Map includes 12 curated city guides and 10 national guides, that include Black-owned wineries (“Melanin Vines”), notable start-up companies (“Black Silicon Valley”) and restaurants that fuelled civil rights (“Civil Bites”).
“We’re inspired by the relentless positivity at the heart of the Black & Abroad brand, and wanted to once again explore what happens when you push a bold, brand idea into a sophisticated technology ecosystem,” stated Ian Mackenzie, chief creative officer, Performance Art. “We know the data we’re visualizing represents just a fraction of actual Black cultural contribution. We see this as part of an ongoing conversation, and a conceptual counterpoint to a long history of maps created with harmful and unacknowledged biases.”
The Black Elevation Map is launching with a 60-second film called A Hymn Away From Home, directed by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall (whose Black Bodies was an official selection of TIFF 2020) and produced by the Black-owned production company, Alfredo Films. The film combines aspirational footage of more than 30 business owners from across America with famous images of mountains, and original poetry commissioned and performed by Washington D.C. poet Jasmine Mans (Black Girl, Call Home).
The project’s other contributors include designer, Tré Seals, whose “Martin” typeface was inspired by protest posters from the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. Seals also created an original set of icons for the project, inspired by a survey of African symbology.
Site functionality includes the ability to create and email “favourites,” an “Add to map” feature, search by city, a freestyle explore map mode, a Black travel social media feed, and buttons that enable users to toggle between several powerful elevation-based data visualizations. The map also pulls in Black travel-related social media conversations from Twitter and Instagram based on hashtag use, categorized across three streams.
“We have always seen an opportunity to elevate the community through world exploration,” commented Kent Johnson, chief strategy officer and co-founder Black & Abroad. “The Black Elevation Map is a way for us to share the brand’s positive view from a domestic travel standpoint, while encouraging exploration across our diverse community. We’ll always have miles to go. We hope this map helps with the journey.”
Credits:
Client: Black & Abroad
Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder: Eric Martin
Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder: Kent Johnson
Agency: Performance Art
Chief Creative Officer: Ian Mackenzie
Associate Creative Directors: Pedro Izzo & Benson Ngo
Copywriters: Hemal Dhanjee, Tobi Adebowale, Paula Purdon & Jasmine Mans
Experience Delivery Lead: Nzegwhua Anderson
Senior Experience Designer: Joe Szabo
Experience Designer: Leon Mullings
Studio Designer: Emily Plewes
Executive Creative Director: Colin Craig
Producer: Sharon Nelson-Bailey
VP Strategy: Kirk Linkletter
Strategists: Leandra Legendre, Simran Kaur, Eli Ferrara & Cassandra Cervi
SVP, Head of Strategy: Priyanka Goswami
Program Manager: Kaylen Dillon
Digital producer: Darwin Garcia
SVP, Managing Director: Jordan Dinning
Account Supervisor: Ricky Gunawan
Account Director: Jon Rae
VP, Technology: Stuart Cheesmond
Technical Solutions Consultant: Suraj Patel
Group Director, Product Development: Arnaud Icard
Lead Developer: John Iacoviello
Full Stack Developer: Cody Schreiber
Interface Developer: Heung Lee
Senior Technical Architect: Valerian Nasqidashvili
Quality Assurance Lead: Natalia Zadorozhna
Quality Assurance Analyst: Nataliya Vislyanska
Solutions Consultants (BAs): Suraj Patel & Kaivalya Kashyap
Analytics Manager: Anil Iqbal
Junior Analyst: Shaista Meghji
Analytics Analyst: Abdul Dau
Consultant: Gigi Basanta
Chief Executive Officer: Andrea Cook
Chief Operations Officer: Elizabeth Sellors
Type: Vocal Type Co.
Designer: Tré Seals
Production Company: Alfredo Films
Director: Kelly Fyffe-Marshall
DOP: Shivam Pandya
Producers: Alex Henry &Holly Rowden
Editor: Michael Ofori-Attah
Online: Alter Ego
VFX Executive Producer: Hilda Pereira
VFX Producer: Andrew Tavares
Motion Designers: Rob Fisher & Ian Flaig
Colourist: Conor Fisher
Colour Assistant: Daniel Saavedra
VFX Artist: Joel Osis
VFX Assistant: Victoria Gaston
Audio: TA2 Sound + Music
Audio Director: Simon Jain
Project Manager: Heather Ngo
Audio Engineer: Dean Metherell
Assistant Audio Engineer: Justin Poon
Creative Director: Steve Gadsden
Media: Initiative Canada
Chief Strategy Officer: Nish Shah
Director, Communications Design: Lara Senbanjo
Director, Strategy: Christian Kern
Performance Marketing: Reprise Canada
Head of Content: Cynthia Steele
Senior Director, Strategy & Social Commerce: Tyler Dmytrow
Audience Agency: Kinesso
SVP, Global Client Solutions: Wendi Dunlap
Director, Audience Solutions: Mandy Wong
Manager, Audience Solutions: Rory Materson
Agency Partner: Meta
Creative Agency Partners: Kayla Osmond & Katie Wall
Creative Director: Scott Drey
Creative: Michael Dooley
PR: Glossy
PR Specialist: Shannon Stephaniuk
