R.O.A.D.
Reclaiming the narrative and forging the future of Barbados
( Services )
- Brand & Media
- Customer Experience
In 2025, Barbados marks 400 years since the first British Ship arrived on its shores—a sobering anniversary that calls for remembrance, reflection, and reckoning. Over the centuries, local culture and heritage have faced numerous obstacles.
In response, the Government of Barbados launched the R.O.A.D. (Reclaiming Our Atlantic Destiny) Programme. More than a heritage initiative, it’s a national movement to preserve the past and project a new future—one rooted in truth, dignity, and self-determination.
R.O.A.D. is designed to digitise and safeguard one of the world’s largest archives of records from the transatlantic slave trade, many of which have never been publicly accessible. Alongside this monumental archival effort, the programme will establish the Barbados Heritage District, which will encompass an Ancestral Memorial to the Enslaved, a National Performing Arts Centre, a global Genealogical Research Institute, and a National Museum dedicated to accurately recounting the historic and contemporary impact of slavery and forced migration on Barbados. Together, it will create space for education, cultural celebration, and global conversation.
We were brought in to help build a brand strategy, visual identity, and digital experience that could carry the weight of history while inviting participation in the future.
Since establishing a regional hub in Barbados in 2023, our agency has been committed to creating economic opportunities and fostering local talent in the Caribbean. And as a certified B Corporation, the chance to co-create a platform that honours past generations and empowers those to come is the kind of impact-driven work that sits at the heart of our mission.
Visit the R.O.A.D. website here
A moment of truth for a nation and the world
Our teams faced a unique challenge: how do you balance reverence with ambition, solemnity with strength? How do you design for something that isn’t a product or a campaign, but a cultural legacy?
R.O.A.D. has set out to do something immensely impactful by reclaiming authorship over its own history, sharing it with the world, and catalysing a “heritage economy” rooted in truth-telling and cultural expression. Crafting a brand around such a profound subject matter isn’t straightforward. The identity had to be bold enough to spark a movement, but sensitive enough to earn the trust of those it represented. It had to feel distinctly Barbadian, while inviting global audiences to engage, learn, and contribute.
For us, this meant moving past aesthetics and into meaning-making. Every element had to carry weight. Each design decision needed to reflect lived experience. Most importantly, the approach had to be deeply collaborative, with Barbadians at the centre of the narrative.
Our process was intentionally global and inclusive. Team members from Barbados, the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands travelled to the island to engross themselves in the culture, engage with stakeholders, and better understand the nuances of the subject matter. This immersive, shared learning experience was critical to shape not just the outcome, but the mindset of the work.
Interrogate, inform, ignite
To build a brand strategy and visual identity that lived up to the R.O.A.D. Programme’s ambition, we had to start at the intersection of history and possibility.
At its core, R.O.A.D. is about uncovering, preserving, and sharing truths with the world. But it’s also about agency, empowering Barbadians to reclaim their story and radiate it outward as a source of cultural pride and economic momentum. With these factors in mind, we formed a strategy around a simple but powerful framework:
- Interrogate the past with honesty, transparency, and respect.
- Inform the present through education, design, and storytelling.
- Ignite the future by turning heritage into a catalyst for creativity, opportunity, and change.
At the heart of the identity is the African Sankofa symbol, which represents the concept of looking back and learning from the past in order to move forward and create a better future. We reimagined the symbol through a Caribbean lens, using the spiral as our guiding shape.
It symbolises the past feeding into the present, and the present unlocking the future. Its circular form also reflects Barbados itself, positioned at the centre of the Atlantic, sending ripples of history, resilience, and hope across the globe.
From there, we built a full design system that embraces contrast and duality. It’s traditional and modern, serious and uplifting, local and global.
Custom wordmarks, a rich typographic palette, and framing devices inspired by the spiral all support storytelling across touchpoints, from memorial installations to digital platforms.
Getting colour right was also essential, so our teams worked closely with local stakeholders to develop a palette that felt true to the island’s energy. Every visual choice was shaped through dialogue and collaborative input to ensure the work reflected shared ownership.
The result is a visual identity built for today’s programme, the future of the R.O.A.D. project, and the movement it hopes to inspire.
Bringing the brand to life online: R.O.A.D. MVP website
To complement the visual identity, we designed and developed the R.O.A.D. MVP website: the central platform introducing the initiative to the world. Built to inspire and inform, the site balances reverence and optimism, bringing R.O.A.D.’s purpose to life through clear storytelling and an emotionally resonant user experience.
The site applies the full brand system and is designed to scale with the programme. It lays the technical and narrative scaffolding for future digital experiences, such as Digital Reflections, where users can share and explore stories tied to the site, and a kids’ experience that’s designed to educate and engage younger audiences through interactive cultural exploration.
More than a launchpad, the MVP website is designed to be a platform for empowerment. It’s a digital space that can be taken on and evolved by the people of Barbados. It creates the foundation for a locally-driven creative and digital ecosystem, where new ideas, stories, and innovations can flourish. Built with flexibility, accessibility, and future expansion in mind, the site ensures R.O.A.D. is maintained in memory and propelled forward through local ownership, participation, and innovation.
ARtefact Adventures: Barbados
ARtefact Adventures: Barbados is a pivotal component of the R.O.A.D. Programme that seeks to create an enriching experience specifically targeted to children. The mobile game invites kids to explore the unique culture, natural habitat, and history of Barbados through augmented reality, puzzles, and character interactions.
Through the adventures of Keisha and Justin, two passionate young Barbadians, players embark on a quest to discover artefacts that represent the essence of Barbados. By focusing on the island’s rich heritage, the game aims to instil a sense of pride and identity in Barbadian children, while also teaching children worldwide about the island’s cultural legacy.
The game integrates educational content with interactive gameplay to foster a deep connection between young Barbadians and their heritage, ensuring the stories and traditions of their ancestors are preserved and celebrated. At the same time, it empowers the next generation to carry forward these narratives, encouraging them to envision a future where their cultural identity plays a central role in global conversations.
ARtefact Adventures: Barbados extends its educational reach, giving kids and families around the world the opportunity to explore the island’s history. Through global engagement, the game helps promote culture exchange and understanding, allowing players to appreciate the uniqueness of Barbadian traditions while recognising universal themes of resilience, creativity, and community.
Through the R.O.A.D Programme, ARtefact Adventures: Barbados serves as a digital bridge, connecting the past with the present and inspiring children to contribute to a culturally rich future.
A new symbol for truth, memory, and momentum
The launch of the R.O.A.D. Programme marks the beginning of something far bigger than a single brand or campaign. It’s an invitation to Barbadians and the global community to engage with our shared, and oftentimes difficult, history in a more honest, accessible, and transformative way.
By preserving and digitising one of the most significant archival collections of the transatlantic slave trade, R.O.A.D. is creating a permanent legacy rooted in truth, remembrance, and healing. Anchoring that legacy in a bold new identity system gives voice to the untold stories of the past while creating space for the future to be imagined differently.
This isn’t just a government initiative, but a national consciousness in motion. The visual identity and digital platform we helped to create were both designed to evolve alongside it, adaptable enough to live across memorials, educational spaces, performances, policy platforms, and community conversations for years to come.
The ARTefact Adventures: Barbados game is set to launch in early 2026.
