TARGET ANNOUNCED ITS HBCU BLACK HISTORY MONTH DESIGN CHALLENGE
Last year, Target launched an HBCU Black History Month Design Challenge as a part of their annual Black History Collection. The program is a competition to design t-shirt artwork & graphics for the Target 2022 Black History Month campaign. The winners included Trajan Baker of Hampton University, Kah’Milah Ledgester of Florida A&M, and Sha’ron Townsend of Bowie State University.
Trajan Baker of Hampton University
Trajan Baker went on to explain what his design meant. “‘We Rise’ was meant to kind of show how we as a people have really elevated, pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps throughout our history in this country,” said Baker.
Baker explained that the two words also represent growth in diversity and opportunity. “And we’ve gotten to a place in 2021 where I’m able to do things like this. People of color are succeeding in every realm of human achievement.” He continued, “You can put an image on paper but it’s so much more powerful when you connect a message behind that.”
Besides going to school, Baker has his own design business. He said the Target competition promotes diversity and highlights historically Black colleges and universities.
Kah’Milah Ledgester of Florida A&M
The next winner, Kah’Milah, sat down with Kalana Brown for a Target exclusive interview and said, “Seeing that I could create design that could make people feel. I feel like that’s the biggest power you could ever have.”
Kah’milah says she is super happy she applied to the program and took a chance on herself. “It’s really a great opportunity to highlight Black artists and creatives. I’m really happy I took the moment to apply.”
The artistically inspired T-shirt showcases fruitful women and bright colors. It features a crew neckline and regular fit, and is designed with a below-waist silhouette that’s easy to style and comfortable to wear.
Sha’ron Townsend of Bowie State University
Additionally, Sha’ron Townsend of Bowie State University wrapped the competition up with Unity.
“My goal was to illustrate different colors coming together. I thought it would be cool to have some of the hands brown, with the red, black and green and the African print behind it,” he said.
“When I submitted this, I already knew it was going to be a hit. I knew it would be something that could be worn all year-round, not just during Black History Month.”
Townsend is set to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications & Digital Media Arts with a concentration in Fashion Design. His recognition stems from years of hard work and inspiration.
“It’s amazing because I’ve always wanted to design and see my items in stores. I started tweaking clothes in high school to fit my own personal taste and eventually began researching manufacturers to get samples made.”
Today, in addition to having his talent showcased in the collection at Target, he is also the founder of his own fashion brand, Stranger than Nature.
The winners also learned about all aspects of production, from textile selection to placing the new products in stores. The Black Beyond Measure collection, sourced entirely by black creators, is available now online and in stores. Winners of the design challenge also received a $3,000 cash prize, an Apple Mac Book Pro, Snapchat AR Spectacle glasses, and access to a UX Design Course valued at $4000.
