BlackStar is excited to announce its new brand identity created by New-York based creative agency Pacific. Through a multi-year process of research and refinement, Pacific developed a new visual identity and system that unifies the various initiatives that exist under the umbrella of BlackStar—from its flagship film festival to Seen, its bi-annual journal of film, art and visual culture. Conceived with the 15-year anniversary of BlackStar in mind, the new identity allows the institution to more precisely express the core themes and ideas that animate its year-round programming, all while celebrating the artists and the work they make.
Over the past 15 years, BlackStar has prioritized visionary work that is experimental in its aesthetics, content and form, and which builds on the work of elders and ancestors to imagine a new world. In addition to its annual film festival and bi-annual journal, BlackStar organizes film screenings, exhibitions, a filmmaker seminar and a film production lab, programs that provide artists with opportunities, resources and support. Through these programs and initiatives BlackStar endeavors to build a liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences are celebrated in arts and culture.
“The trajectory of BlackStar over the past 15 years has been incredibly encouraging and heartening as we look ahead to this year’s Film Festival and beyond,” said BlackStar Founder, Chief Executive & Artistic Officer, Maori Karmael Holmes. “As we took stock of where the organization was at and what it had achieved, it was also a moment for us to reimagine our programs holistically, and ensure that our branding and institutional voice were reimagined. Working with Pacific has provided us with a clear and impactful visual language that will allow us to best communicate not only our values and ambition, but those of our community as well.”
At the core of Pacific’s rebranding process was an attention to BlackStar’s history and the desire to establish the visionary institution as a global leader supporting Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside of the confines of genre. Pacific developed a brand system for BlackStar that provides the core elements that create a consistent and recognizable identity across all applications. These components—logotype, typography, color, the slate system and layout structure—work together to form a cohesive visual language that is flexible, functional and grounded in the organization’s values. Key pillars of this process included refining BlackStar’s logo to maximize legibility and clarity across applications, and developing a typographic system that takes inspiration from the film slate. A new website—with updates to both the design and functionality—was also designed and developed by Pacific, alongside a new festival website and updated social media assets for BlackStar.
“Working with BlackStar is an honor and Pacific is grateful for their collaboration on this important rebrand,” said Elizabeth Karp-Evans, founder of Pacific. “Our studio’s intention was to highlight the organization’s vital work—not only as a supporter of artists in the global majority making some of the most compelling cinema in our present moment, but as a new type of arts and culture body that champions and celebrates Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences in the visual world. BlackStar’s rebrand signals to audiences that the organization is deeply invested in its work and mission. Led by Maori Karmael Holmes, BlackStar will continue to set the standard for supporting liberatory filmmaking with rigor, care and community for years to come.”
The new website was developed with the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator for Arts and Culture. The program supports leadership development and infrastructure investment that builds audiences, increases fundraising, drives revenue, delivers dynamic programming and helps us work more efficiently and effectively in support of our strategic objectives.
BlackStar is also excited to announce that early bird tickets for the 15th annual BlackStar Film Festival, held from August 6–9, 2026, are available here.
BlackStar Projects, founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes as BlackStar Film Festival, creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside the confines of genre. Beyond the annual film festival the organization produces year-round programs, including film screenings, exhibitions, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab and a journal of film, art and visual culture.