Leroy Harris
The world pandemic may need left a Notting Hill Carnival-shaped gap within the hearts of Londoners this 12 months, however in a collaborative effort with paq works, a black-owned, London-based inventive company, and Ekua King on pictures, Spotify’s Artist Marketing group was capable of facilitate a digital expertise that captured the true essence of Carnival.
Here, Leroy Harris, Artist Marketing Lead at Spotify, shares the evolution of the challenge (from reside occasion to digital expertise), and the way paq works’ imaginative and prescient for the marketing campaign got here to life.
Notting Hill Carnival in a Nutshell
For the uninitiated, Notting Hill Carnival is the UK’s most vital occasion for black music and Caribbean tradition – it’s additionally one of many largest avenue festivals on the planet. Every August since 1966, round two million folks go to West London. Across two packed days, the streets round Ladbroke Grove heave with crowds, costumes, unimaginable meals, metal pans, and an enormous array of music that pumps from 38 official sound methods unfold all through the world, in addition to DJ’s that type a part of the mas bands within the parade that loops Notting Hill.
Carnival Sounds microsite
From Live Event to Digital Takeover
When this challenge kicked-off in late 2019, it was a really totally different time – we assumed a partnership with Notting Hill Carnival would contain a reside occasion in some type.
It turned clear fairly early on that Carnival, as we all know it, wouldn’t be going forward in 2020. The optimistic facet of this was that we may actually help the Carnival group by serving to them get to the place they wanted to be: in a digital house.
The Concept: Carnival Sounds
The thought was to create a Carnival audio-visual expertise, all hosted on a microsite.
We had a wealth of music already obtainable to us on the platform, nevertheless it was vital that we spotlight and rejoice the faces behind Carnival, and permit them to take management and curate that music in the identical manner they might reside on the occasion.
The majority of individuals concerned within the pageant every year are from the Caribbean diaspora and have lived in London for a very long time. For many, Carnival is their greatest outlet of creative expression all year long, be that by music, costume or dance. We needed to ensure we have been bringing that neighborhood to life on the positioning.
We curated a collection of Carnival-related podcasts, in addition to commissioning new ones. Episodes about every thing from the music, sound system tradition, and bass tradition; we delved into Windrush tales, and the tales of the people behind Carnival as nicely.
The outcome was a spot digital-Carnival-goers may actually delve deep into the music and what’s behind it, take heed to playlists by the sound methods and DJ’s in addition to high-profile artist takeovers, make amends for the historical past and tradition, and examine in on their favorite sound methods over Carnival week, through hyperlinks to the principle Notting Hill Carnival group’s live-streams.
Finally (and most significantly), so far as arising with a inventive imaginative and prescient for the positioning, we didn’t need this to be about us making it solely ourselves. We needed to convey collectively a group of creatives who’re a part of the neighborhood, who love Carnival, and have been raised with that have – just like the founding group of paq works.
Paq works’ Inspiration
paq works is the London-based company behind the Carnival Sounds inventive route. Agency founders, Chiamaka Ojechi, Joshua Allen, and Ebele Davis, primarily sought inspiration in one in all Carnival’s key pillars: The sound methods.
London Creative Agency, paq works
The sound system idea influences all facets of Carnival Sounds’ visible identification; the audio system are the centerpiece of excellent vibes.
The web site options playlists from all 42 sound methods & DJ legends, that are stacked on the web page just like the audio system themselves. The art work pulses when the bass is turned all the best way up, articulating the little spheres on the heart of every playlist. It’s the lifetime of the get together all through the design language.
These pulsing spheres additionally inform the selection of typography, which options particular person letters seemingly vibrating to the sounds.
Drawing from Carnival’s History
The group at paq works additionally drew inspiration from classic occasion posters from the Caribbean – significantly Jamaican dancehall tradition. The art work for every playlist is solely distinctive in the identical manner sound methods are customized by their homeowners.
The colourful boldness of Carnival tradition is accomplished with the usage of a vibrantly wealthy palette.
Highlights: “Pull up”
A favourite function among the many paq works group is the “Pull Up” button on the backside of every sound system web page. The hyperlink returns guests again to the highest, with a nod to sound system tradition.
Ekua King: Capturing the People of Carnival
The playlist covers incorporate Ekua King’s stunning pictures, including continuity, whereas nonetheless sustaining the person identification of every sound system.
Photography by Ekua King
Ekua King is the British-Jamaican photographer behind the representations of the folks of Carnival. Usually a trend photographer with work repeatedly showing in publications like I-D, Paper, and Vogue Italia, her continued ardour is creating works that commemorate the black male picture.
Continuing the classic motif, Ekua shot the portraits on movie and used an outdated VHS camcorder to movie footage of the folks of every sound system, whereas interviews have been performed on voice notes.
We had the VHS digitized and edited into 20-40 second clips for every sound system after which overlaid the voice notes with the footage. The tales we captured add particular person taste to every of the sound methods, and assist the viewer perceive how deeply private and vital being a part of Carnival is to the folks concerned.
Given the sheer variety of sound methods and crews concerned, it was by no means meant for Ekua to be solely accountable for capturing all of the pictures – we anticipated utilizing extra help, guided by Ekua’s type. However, her ardour for the topics and connections she shaped with the crews meant she freed up a number of evenings and weekends and insisted she needed to shoot each topic herself!
Carnival at Home
The paq works group, Ekua King, and Stink Studios’, the company that constructed the positioning, mixed efforts culminated in a microsite that captured Carnival’s essence, and gave folks an opportunity to nonetheless expertise this beloved pageant at a time when it’s so vital to remain residence and preserve secure.
The web site launched to an extremely optimistic reception, significantly the eye to element of the texture of the positioning. The design captured a classic tenor in a nod to the heritage of the occasion and its members, whereas additionally utilizing solely authentic pictures and contemporary design. The potential to dive out and in of every sound system’s web page at will and discover on the viewers’ personal tempo mirrored the expertise of strolling round Notting Hill on carnival weekend.
Credits
Leroy Harris
Artist Marketing Lead
Leroy is Artist Marketing Lead for the UK+IE music group. It’s his job to suppose creatively about methods to convey music campaigns to life, then to make it occur.