King Records 75th

Memorial Hall

Activation & Events, Brand Identity, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Rock N’Roll and Social & Campaigns
King Records 75th Anniversary, “Celebrate the King”

Creative Brief & Project Results

Ask:
To create and design a brand identity and event (design, production & social) for the King Records 75th Anniversary at Memorial Hall.

Goals:
Our goal was to provide a unique experience by bringing together the King Records community. We developed awareness, identity and supported the fan base to celebrate all the King Records artists and musicians of the first 75 years...and beyond.

Results:
A tremendous night of stories and performances – a gathering of musicians and artists, a reunion of family and friends that opened the doors for the next generation of King Records fans.

On this night, we showcased many King Records voices from Cincinnati and beyond. There were videos highlighting artists and musicians. There were many musicians and performances backed by the incredible School of Rock, featuring some of Cincinnati's most talented youth artists with special cameo appearances by King Records recording artists, family and friends (Bootsy Collins, Philip Paul and Otis Williams to name a few). We also celebrated four Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The King of Them All

Celebrate the King / Honoring 75 Years of King Records
August 25th, 2018 at Memorial Hall

Music historians have often referred to the melding together of Country & Western and Rhythm & Blues as an origin of the American art form known as Rock and Roll. Cincinnati's King Records was the first record label to cross boundaries between these two distinctive musical styles. Between the years 1943 and 1971 Cincinnati's King Records revolutionized the process in which music was recorded, manufactured, distributed and promoted. Nearly 250 hit songs were recorded and more than 150 million records in the Jazz, Country, Bluegrass and Rhythm & Blues fields were manufactured.

“There are only three places in the world that can claim to be the birthplace of Rock & Roll: New Orleans, Memphis & Cincinnati.”

— Terry Stewart, Former Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame Director

“We were the first to do that...King worked with white country singers as well as black R&B artists, it seemed a natural thing to cross boundaries. We weren’t afraid of intermarriages.”

— Henry Glover, The Innovator