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


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