Black Girl Gamers: There’s Levels to This
Brand Identity
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D&AD New Blood Winner
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2022
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Brand Identity | D&AD New Blood Winner | 2022 |
The brief
This was a D&AD New Blood entry (2022) and won a pencil.
Create a bold, professional brand identity and clear USPs that reflect Black Girl Gamers' (BGG) values. The brand should strike the right balance: vibrant and expressive, but grounded in credibility. The identity needs to be backed by real research and a deep understanding of the gaming space and its audience. BGG’s positioning should feel future-ready, with a set of USPs that push the brand ahead of the curve.
The concept
At the core of the brand is a flexible logo system. A dynamic mark that BGG members can help shape. This opens the door for countless variations, each one representing the individuality and diversity that exists within the Black girl gaming community.
The visual language leans into the idea of levels. It’s a nod to both gaming culture and identity. There are levels to being Black, to being a girl, and to being a gamer. The brand embraces all of that.
The primary deliverable is a digital space that feels safe, customisable, and community-first. A home base where members can build their own loadout, interact, earn XP.
Brand overview
The identity is designed to be flexible and inclusive. Both the logomark and logotype adapt to reflect the diversity within the BGG community. Members can build and personalise their own versions (“Craft your core”), creating a system that feels united without being uniform.
Typography is purposeful. Extenda stretches to spotlight individuality, while Freight, a typeface by Black designer Joshua Darden, adds a sense of elegance and cultural weight as the secondary typeface. The colour palette riffs on BGG’s existing tones, with gradients introduced to reflect nuance and complexity. Patterns support the copy by visualising ideas of levels and a core.
Website & rewards
The website becomes the core platform for the BGG community. It’s controller and keyboard compatible, and serves as a central space for connection, personalisation, and growth. On the homepage, members can see a real-time visualisation of the growing community and customise their digital identity.
The loadout lets members add widgets for the gaming tools, apps, and platforms they use most. It reduces digital clutter and supports how they play. The more they use their loadout, the more XP they earn, unlocking loot crates with digital or physical rewards, such as custom controllers.
Campaign
The campaign runs both digitally and physically, with a targeted approach. Visuals are driven by the identities designed by BGG members, making the community the face of the campaign. This encourages new members to join, continues the cycle of growth, and keeps the momentum going.
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