The Watch
The Watch is a digital community watch based on Twitter and Twitch to fight racism in online gaming. This was an initiative created by an Art Director at Leo Burnett as he noticed numerous instances of racist behavior in online video games, particularly Call of Duty Warzone. The Watch was launched as a campaign in collaboration with Melanin Gamers, an organization that promotes diversity and inclusion in video games.
The Watch relies on the gaming community monitoring Twitch streams and reporting instances of racist behavior. The reports are then collected and shown to gaming manufacturers demonstrating the severity of the problem and aiming to create a positive change against it.
My task was to develop a visual identity and craft a variety of applications with the guidance of the design leadership team.
Project by Leo Burnett Canada.
Area
Length
Tools
Branding
1 year
Illustrator, Photoshop
Twitter home page
Twitter headline posts
Data Report Posters
Out of home pieces
Although The Watch primarily lives in the digital space, we also looked for opportunities to manifest the campaign in the real world. Our original idea was to have the three posters below at a gaming arena where our target audience would see them closely. Unfortunately, the space closed before we were able to install them. The third poster is a QR code that leads to the Twitter page.
The physical printouts of the posters
The Watch’s take over of Amsterdam’s TwitchCon
This was a fantastic opportunity that was presented to us when MelaninGamers was hosting a panel talk at TwitchCon. These ads had a playback background that would be on loop, this way it would instantly capture any viewers attention.
Reflection
There are few real opportunities where one’s work can have a positive impact on the world. I believe that The Watch is generating a positive consciousness about the issue and raising a flag at what has otherwise been ignored for too long. Though I’m no longer at Leo Burnett, The Watch lives on– fostering a better community in online gaming.