On August 28, 2013, we celebrated one of the most memorable moments in US history. This day marked the 50th Year Anniversary of the “I Have A Dream Speech” given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963. This speech singlehandedly shaped the tone and heartbeat of our country during that time, and has been a guide and moral standard for our culture to this day. During a week-long commemoration that lasted from August 21 to August 28, millions of people from around the world remembered and honored the life and legacy of Dr. King.
Celebrating 50 Years of Dr. King's Legacy
The King Center
On August 28, 2013, we celebrated the 50th Year Anniversary of the “I Have A Dream Speech” given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The 50th Anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" Speech
On August 28, 2013, we celebrated one of the most memorable moments in US history. This day marked the 50th Year Anniversary of the “I Have A Dream Speech” given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963. This speech singlehandedly shaped the tone and heartbeat of our country during that time, and has been a guide and moral standard for our culture to this day. During a week-long commemoration that lasted from August 21 to August 28, millions of people from around the world remembered and honored the life and legacy of Dr. King.
The Challenge
In preparation of the week-long commemoration, we were approached by Bernice King and The King Center with the task of designing and developing the official website and online presence for the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech. We embarked on a two-month journey of researching, gathering information, developing and designing. Our goal was to create an online presence that would be both informative and inspiring for visitors around the world looking to participate in the week-long commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Here’s the logo commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech.
Brand Identity: Logo
The design of the 50th Anniversary logo was an intentional fusion of numerical commemoration and visual storytelling. We emphasized the number “50” as a central element, representing the remarkable milestone of five decades. Within this numerical tribute, the inclusion of Dr. King’s visual presence was a poignant choice. It serves as a powerful reminder of his enduring legacy, capturing the essence of his pivotal role in shaping history. This logo encapsulates not only the passage of time but also the timeless impact of Dr. King’s vision and dedication to equality and justice.
Brand Identity: Color
The 50th Anniversary Color Palette incorporates two shades of Brown as the primary and secondary colors, along with an off-White. Brown represents wholesomeness, reliability, elegance, security, healing, home, stability, warmth, and honesty.
Peanut
#B6943D
Mocha
#3A322F
Alabaster
#E6E5E1
Brand Identity: Website
Our first step was to discover as much as we could about the historical day of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream Speech” and the March on Washington. Our research consisted of studying the Civil Rights Movement, it’s impact on culture, and Dr. King’s legacy. We also conducted web research for the website, which gave us insight into what the web trends were for social movements and large-scale events.
Our second step was to define the best strategy for developing the website. We used the information we gathered from our research to identify brand colors, fonts, layout structure, design elements, and content for the website. The entire week-long celebration was organized around the hashtag “#MLKDream50”, which become the central identifying phrase of before and during the week. This was done strategically to track tweets and status updates around the world. We decided to go with a parallax-style layout for the website since most visitors would be interacting with the site via a mobile device. We also decided to make the calendar schedule of events one of the highlights of the website.
We realized that the biggest function of the website was to make sure visitors could easily access information regarding all events occurring during the week-long celebration. We picked browns as the best color palette for the website, which gave the site a historic feel. We also integrated videos from the 1963 “I Have A Dream Speech” and a scrolling photo gallery of the March on Washington. We launched the site a month before the week-long celebration and tracked impressions.
