Two & Fro is a brand that assists with the mentorship connection between incoming Black college freshmen students with Black creative professionals. This initiative is proposed in order to push the agenda of having more Black creative professionals in the creative fields. This will not be limited to only incoming Black college freshmen... it will begin with Black students in middle school in order to inform these students of the possibilities that creative fields have to offer at an earlier age then branch to other age groups for Black individuals.
TWO & FRO
Two & Fro is a non-profit organization that assists with the mentorship connection between incoming Black college freshmen students with Black creative professionals. This initiative is proposed in order to push the agenda of having more Black creative professionals in the creative fields. Upon expansion of the organization, Two & Fro will be offered to Black students in middle school and further on Black communities in general in order to inform individuals of the possibilities that creative fields have to offer no matter the age. More representation from contemporary, successful Black creative professionals are needed to properly support and influence aspiring Black creatives to pursue anything they desire!
Role: Project Design Lead/Creator
Tools used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch
Problem observed
In 2019, Black students made up 6.6% (about 1,600 Black students) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville while 78.5% are white students. Black faculty members made up 7.4% while 84.6% were white faculty members. In the Art and Architecture building, there were two Black faculty members and in the Graphic Design program (spring 2019) there were seven Black students out of fifty-two students (13.4%).
The question remains: Why is no one coming to the Graphic Design program and more importantly why is a small percent of Black individuals wanting to join creative art fields? The problem is that there are NOT enough Black individuals in the creative arts fields.
Solution
Creating a Black mentorship website that will connect Black incoming freshmen college students will be beneficial in teaching and helping them understand and experience the creative field of their choice before college. This will assist with informing them in advance what they will experience in a specific field.
Deliverables
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Website
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An application (once expanded)
Reflection/Future Goals
I would definitely enhance my website to have more general features to make the experience as simple as possible for students along with making sure it is fully accessibility friendly. In addition, incorporating the site’s features into an application for phones so that it would be easily accessible from different platforms. I would reach out to Black activists and Black influencers to help sponsor the website and to get it marketed to the audience. Along with that, getting it tested and assisting with implementation through their participation. It would help to get the word of mouth in high school environments through counselors or sponsored school events, after-school care such as Boys and Girls Club Teen center, local after-school hangouts for Black teenagers such as the Change Center located in Knoxville (start local) that provides relational, recreational, leadership development, and job initiatives for teens and young adults, and lastly Two & Fro can be marketed around predominantly Black communities. The website will also be marketed on social media through advertisements, hashtags, and will even be pushed to music and movie streaming sites.
The initiatives will go in order like this:
1. Increasing the number of mentors and students interacting.
2. Encouraging the local community to engage.
3. Advertisements on social media for more global expansion.
4. Partner with other well-known initiatives and sponsors.
5. Become a consistent assistant for Black individuals to rely on.
Current Design
Previous Design
Two meaning the connection between the mentor and the mentee. Fro meaning the connection between Black individuals.
Colors
For the colors chosen for the overall website along with the logo, I wanted to tap into "fun," more vibrant colors that younger individuals would relate to in a way. My mind instantly when to neon-like colors because when I was younger, neon colors played a heavy role such as in skating rinks or even when I went to play laser tag! Each color associates with a meaning: lavender (youth, vitality), yellow (joy, positivity), green (life, healing), pink (sincerity), blue (trust, loyalty), and orange (success, creativity, determination, abundance). All of these colors together summarize the feelings that I want to resonate from Two&Fro to the younger generation utilizing the platform. I didn't like the neon colors in the logo so I chose a muted lavender to contrast the vibrant green. Based on the colors, the logo also has the message "growing youth."
