Whether it’s cornrows, goddess braids, afros or locs, Black hair has a history all its own. To explore that as part of Black History Month, Freeform teamed up with Marina del Rey, Calif.-based creative agency Makiné Studios and the cast of Grown-ish on the campaign “The Roots of Our Roots.”
Each spot – Braids, Afro and Locs – is narrated by a different star of the show. Yara Shahidi tells the history of braids and how enslaved Africans brought the style to America, often embedded with shells, coins or grains of rice. Diggy Simmons talks about Afros and how they have become associated with the Black power movement of the 1960s and 70s. And Luka Sabbat talks about Locs, also known as dreadlocks, and how they’ve come to be connected to the laid-back rastafarian lifestyle even though their history is that of Black resistance from Africa to Jamaica to the U.S.
The informative spots are accompanied by colorful and culturally relevant motion graphics by Makiné Studios. The campaign ran across Freeform platforms in February.
‘Braids’
‘Afro’
‘Locs’
CREDITS
Client: Freeform
SVP, Content Marketing: Joe Ortiz
VP, Creative, Branding & Design: Casey Brickner
Executive Creative Director, Writer: Kesime Bernard
Creative Director, Motion Branding & Design: Alison Braman
VP, Social Media / Digital Marketing & Strategy: Dalia Ganz
Manager, Social Media & Partnerships: Priyanka Vigneswaran
Senior Campaign Manager: Makenzie Goldrich
Creative Coordinator: Eric Wright
Consultant: Dr. Yaba Blay, Lori Tharps, Michaela Angela Davis
Agency/Production Studio: Makine Studios
CEO, Executive Producer: Maria Alejandra Padua
Executive Creative Director: Jesus M. Rodriguez
Creative Director: Alberto Hadyar
Producer: Gustavo Garcia
Creative Producer/Researcher: Taylor Leake
Art Director: Chaz Waters
Designers: Hector Do Nascimento, Pablo Iranzo
Animators: Pedro Da Silva Pita, Jesus Marquez
Traditional Animators: Claus Cibils, Sergio Spleczuk (Kechu)
Illustrator: Ruben Orellana
Editor: Felipe Orozco
Sound Studio: As Yet Untitled
Engineer: Abe Gomez
Tags: black history month freeform grow-ish hot spots makine studios