Six Cinquième designs an evolving identity for The National Black Canadians Summit

Montreal hosted the summit for the first time in 2025, so it was important that both the consultancy behind the identity and the collaborating artist be local.

Written By: Abbey Bamford

24 October 2024

Digital display mounted on a wall showing an abstract design with blue and orange geometric shapes and flowing red lines against a cream tiled background, casting dramatic shadows

Montreal-based design consultancy Six Cinquième has created new foundations for The National Black Canadians Summit identity, giving it a solid framework while allowing flexibility so that new artists can contribute to it every year.

Now in its fourth year, the summit, organised by The Michaëlle Jean Foundation (FMJF) and presented by TD Bank Group, takes place over three days. Its goal is to unite black Canadians from across the country who are interested in making connections and leveraging their strengths to co-create opportunities for more justice, development, and recognition.

More than 1200 black Canadians from diverse sectors and backgrounds come together for the event every year, a number that continues to grow as awareness spreads across the country.

Cream canvas tote bag with blue geometric design and text reading "Sommet rassemblés" and "National Black Canadians Summit" against dark background

Three Instagram-style posts showcasing The National Black Canadians Summit identity with geometric designs, portraits and French text on a dark background

Six Cinquième co-founder and creative director Ash Phillips says, "With the summit coming to Montreal in 2025, and with MTL being known for its arts and creativity, there was a particular interest in engaging English—and French-speaking black Canadians across generations, with interests in business, community work, and artistic and creative industries.

"The FMJF was looking to define a brand that would support the summit's growing national notoriety and be a representation of Montreal's unique perspective."

Six Cinquième first became aware of the brief when The National Black Canadians Summit's communications lead reached out to them in need of a creative perspective. The team immediately felt aligned with the great work that the FMJF is doing and the summit's mission, and saw it as "an amazing creative opportunity to represent the spirit of Montreal, through the lens of [the team's] unique black experience," according to Phillips.

Smartphone displaying the Michaëlla Jean Foundation website for the 4e Sommet des Communautés Noires with a gradient orange background and illustration of a figure with raised arms in a grid layout

Three social media posts for The National Black Canadians Summit showing orange gradient designs with text about volunteering and appealing for beneficiaries

Trust was key to the relationship between consultancy and client, so Six Cinquième really wanted to ensure that every visual element was intentional and inclusive. Phillips said it was important "not to portray black Canadians as a monolith", so the design team worked closely with the summit's director and communications lead to "avoid any blindspots".

The new identity was built to last for years to come, but one of the elements is that it was designed to evolve and highlight work from different artists each year. This was achieved by creating shapes to frame the artwork, allowing for both consistency and differentiation.

Laptop displaying The National Black Canadians Summit website with orange geometric design featuring a stylised figure, positioned on a wooden shelf with dappled sunlight

Phillips explains how the abstract shapes are loosely based on the summit's acronym (NBCS in English, SPCN in French). Art director Arda Cem and designer Ines Tremblay also worked on the project, specifically designing versatile graphic elements.

The consultancy describes these as "a window peering into the artwork", which also represents the summit as "a window, door, or pathway to justice, recognition, and development for black Canadians", directly reflecting the summit's mission.

Six Cinquième collaborated with multidisciplinary Montreal-based artist Franco Egalité, aka Francorama, whom Phillips has been a personal fan of for a few years.

"I was already following him on Instagram and had saved his work and profile in a folder I have for 'future people to work with', and when the FMJF approached us to develop the brand identity for the NBCS, they made it clear they wanted to collaborate with a local artist," he explains.

He adds that Francorama's "expressive, inviting, and human" style perfectly suited the project's needs.

Tablet displaying The National Black Canadians Summit website on a wooden table with window blinds casting shadows across the surface

Orange and white printed schedule document for The National Black Canadians Summit displaying two-day programme with session times and speaker information

The chosen artwork—titled Unreality Of Time—features a "sun-like head and elated figure" that inspires feelings of "enlightenment, community, humanity, freedom and empowerment," says Phillips. Francorama adds, "This illustration is an image of reaching the highest summits of our convictions and values by surpassing ourselves. Its main objective is to encourage the ascent of our ideas."

Since the FMJF highly values the power of art and creativity and recognises it as a vehicle for expression and activism, this collaboration with local artist Francorama is an excellent representation of that power and aligns with the summit's wider goals.