The One Show

The One Show is the world's most prestigious award show in advertising and design. For over 50 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.

2023 One Show - Interactive, Online & Mobile

The Black Elevation Map

Agency Performance Art / Toronto

Client Black & Abroad

Category

Customer Experience / CX

Annual ID

OS23_IN051M

About the Work

WAYFINDING THROUGH BIAS
“Maps are not ideologically neutral location guides. Mapmakers choose what to include and exclude, and how to display information to users. These decisions can have far-reaching consequences.” (Alderman & Inwood.)

INSIGHT
When marginalized communities navigate the world, they're asked to do so using tools that prioritize someone else’s worldview. Change the tools, and you could change the experience.

THE BLACK ELEVATION MAP
An uplifting domestic travel utility for Black & Abroad that visualizes Black cultural data as elevation. The greater the density of data, the higher the elevation. See the heights of The Culture at BlackElevationMap.com

EXPERIENCE FIRST, UTILITY SECOND
The site experience starts with a fast-loading preview image, during which time the site fully pre-loads in about three seconds. From there the WebGL-based environment is snappy, tight and intuitive, with data available at many zoom levels, and using the UX tenet of progressive disclosure to move from the abstract (in our case wide-view data visualization and density mapping) to the specific (editorial content and points of interest). During development, the team discussed the line between Utility and Experience, and decided to prioritize the Experience foremost. So while the site is packed with utility, it's the story and experience of the idea that is both immediately compelling and unforgettable over time.

DATA VISUALIZATION
At the center, a visualization of +330,000,000 points of data, which through exploration reveals insights about population distribution, and where Black-owned businesses and cultural institutions are likely to be present, absent, and in what abundance.

BLACK TRAVEL SOCIAL FEED
The map also contains a feed that pulls in Black travel-related social media conversations from Twitter and Instagram based on hashtag use. It's categorized across three streams, for a total of 1,500 social sources across 53 embedded data feeds.

TRAVEL UTILITY
Functionality includes the ability to geolocate, create “favorites” lists, “Add to map”, search, a freestyle explore mode, +30,000 discoverable points of interest, a Black-travel social feed, and integrates with other mapping platforms to facilitate routing and directions.

CURATED CONTENT
Users can explore the map through 12 curated city guides and 10 national guides, which contain dozens of original content models, such as Black-owned wineries (“Melanin Vines”) and restaurants that fueled civil rights (“Civil Bites”).

2023 Awards

Total Points: 3

Merit

Credits

Agency

Performance Art / Toronto
Initiative Media / Toronto

Design Firm

Vocal Type Co. / Washington D.C.

Digital Agency

Kinesso / New York
Reprise Canada / Toronto

Client

Eric Martin
Kent Johnson

Client / Brand

Black & Abroad / Atlanta

Production Company

Alfredo Films / Toronto

Music / Sound Production Company

TA2 Sound + Music / Toronto

Post Production Company

Alter Ego / Toronto

Chief Creative Officer

Ian Mackenzie

Designer

Emily Plewes

Director of Photography

Shivam Pandya

Executive Creative Director

Colin Craig

Account Director

Jon Rae

Account Supervisor

Ricky Gunawan

Associate Creative Director

Benson Ngo
Pedro Izzo

Chief Executive Officer

Andrea Cook

Program Manager

Kaylen Dillon

Agency Partner

Meta / New York

Analytics Analyst

Abdul Dau

Analytics Manager

Anil Iqbal

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Elizabeth Sellors

Consultant

Gigi Basanta

Digital Producer

Darwin Garcia

Experience Delivery Lead:

Nzegwhua Anderson

Experience Designer

Leon Mullings

Full Stack Developer

Cody Schreiber

Group Director, Product Developer

Arnaud Icard

Interface Developer

Heung Lee

Junior Analyst

Shaista Meghji

Lead Developer

John Iacoviello

PR

Glossy Inc. / Toronto

Quality Assurance Analyst

Nataliya Vislyanska

Quality Assurance Lead

Natalia Zadorozhna

Senior Experience Designer

Joe Szabo

Senior Technical Architect

Valerian Nasqidashvili

Solutions Consultant

Kaivalya Kashyap

SVP, Head of Strategy

Priyanka Goswami

SVP, Managing Director

Jordan Dinning

Technical Solutions Consultant

Suraj Patel

VP, Strategy

Kirk Linkletter

VP, Technology

Stuart Cheesmond

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