Soul Fest: A Black British Film Festival

Laiqa Miriam creative directs and develops the visual identity for SOUL Fest 2021 across print and digital media. SOUL Fest is a celebration of Black British talent in film, showcasing new features and shorts and allowing audiences the opportunity to see a diverse representation of Black Britain.

The festival is realised as a collaboration between three organisations who serve Black audiences and talent:

• We Are Parable specialise in film exhibition and believe in the storytelling power of events to enhance the experience of a cinema going audience.

• The British Blacklist is the online global home for African Caribbean British creative professionals on the Screen and Stage, in Sound and Literature – both up front and behind the scenes.

• S.O.U.L. Film a platform with the mission to make British Film and TV industry more diverse by celebrating and connecting BAME filmmakers and audiences.

To capture the beauty of these organisations, the visual identity for Soul Fest 2021 is eye-catching, dynamic and bold. Highlighting creativity, and warmth throughout festival assets is essential. The festival colours have been adapted to WCAG 2.0 AA standard, so that they are readable and accessible to a wider range of people with visual impairments.

Drawing from early printing methods, a “halftone” uses dots to imitates details with a photograph, blending this with a “Duplex” or “duotone” we can include our festival colours within any imagery we use for promotion.

Taking one of the core design assets from Soul Fest 2020 into the following year, brings some continuity to the 2021 festival identity. The ‘wave asset’ acts as a background, underline or design feature or element, as well as an accessible coded system for people with colour blindness to identify which events fit into the four main categories: Features, Shorts, Education, Awards.