ESPN focuses on athletes and their contribution to sports in Black History Month campaign

For 2019, Trollbäck+Company partnered once again with ESPN to create a cross-platform Black History Month takeover, designing opening titles, graphics packages and logo animations for a variety of linear, digital and social content.

The modular “Black Athletes Making History” theme was punctuated by the primetime debut of “Unapologetic: The Black Female Athlete,” a TV special presented by The Undefeated, and a video vignette series telling the story of how sports figures have used their platforms to improve both their communities and the world.

The campaign, meanwhile, uses black and white photography along with bold yellow accents and blocks. Select elements also emphasize the letters “B,” “A,”M” and “H” — or the initials of the “Black Athletes Making History” title, all set in a heavy sans serif.

The series’ logotype, meanwhile, features a thick yellow box with the words “Black Athletes” on the first two lines and “Making History” below a horizontal yellow bar that bisects the middle of the design.