The National Urban League (NUL) is a nonprofit that enables African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights. Its annual conference is held in major cities around the country bringing together the most celebrated and influential thought leaders to share their expertise and perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing African Americans in the 21st century. In 2016, Baltimore was tabbed as the destination city for the conference—aptly titled, Save Our Cities—because of its rich heritage, eclectic community, and infamous role in fueling the recent civil rights movements. Untuck was enlisted to create a comprehensive visual identity that had the imagination to stretch across every conference touchpoint and the personality to reach a varied audience.
Entrusted with the annual conference design since 2009, our aim was to develop a concept that appropriately reflects the selected destination and overarching theme. It was from this mindset that we imagined an identity for Baltimore that was full of tension, a bit rough and lived-in, and a whole lot beautiful with its artistic diversity. By mixing typefaces in a combination of weights and styles, asymmetrical shapes of varying scales, and handcrafted textural patterns, we created a collage-based system that embraced these characteristics for a bold and flexible identity.
Reaching thousands of potential registrants demands an integrated approach including, but not limited to advertising, special event invitations, registration booklets, promotional handouts, way-finding, and large-scale free-standing structures installed throughout the host convention center.
The NUL Conference is the only event of its kind to feature both major-party presidential nominees during each of the last several elections. Notable leaders in attendance have included former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Rand Paul, Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Sonia Sotomayor, Arne Duncan, Reverend Al Sharpton, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Bill Gates.
