A music rebranding fighting racial tokenism

London – Music organisation UD is redesigning its website, social media accounts and merchandise to ‘avoid the tropes of Black music culture’ and to combat racial tokenism. The rebranding, which was completed by digital agency Templo, aims to shatter the harmful stereotypes of Black music culture and embrace its contemporary aesthetic.

Due to the racial connotations of the word ‘urban’, which is frequently used to describe the music of Black artists, Templo changed the name of the company from Urban Development to United Development. Pali Palavathanan, the creative director of Templo, describes the project as, ‘a precious opportunity to readdress some of the preconceptions about black music culture and what people of colour want and need to see in the brand that represents them.’

The designers behind the rebrand drew inspiration from their own personal experience as ‘people of colour growing up on council estates,’ to inform the design. The result is a powerful example of Intersectional Design that recognises the subtleties of the subject at hand.