Beyond The Bassline

500 Years of Black British Music

Creative and design direction for 'Beyond The Bassline: 500 years of Black British Music' exhibition identity at the British Library. With one the most extensive music archives in the country the British Library wanted to honour and interrogate Black diaspora histories that have influenced and formed British and global culture by hosting the the first major exhibition of its kind. Showcasing music history spanning 500 years, this exhibition conceived by Mykaell Riley and lead curator Dr Aleema Gray looked to inspire contemplation and connections between music and culture.

Themes of connections, rhythm and movement informed the visual approach alongside the curatorial ambition to convey ideas of culture and musicality permeating through time and space. The tone is both reverential and progressive, a melding of past, present and future, symbolic of those cultural journeys. The identity was used across all print and digital comms, OOH, event signage, retail merch and printed publications.