NPR's Louder Than a Riot
Brand identity for the debut season of Louder Than a Riot, NPR Music's first narrative podcast—an investigation into the entangled rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration, told through the artists who lived it.
The framing concept was "rhyme and punishment": each episode dissected a different piece of the criminal justice system—probation and parole, prosecutors and plea deals, RICO laws—and its impact on Black America.
Role: Art Director & Designer
Client: NPR Music
Hosts: Rodney Carmichael, Sidney Madden
Collaborators: Dale Edwin Murray
Year: 2020
Highlights
The series went on to surpass five million downloads.
Apple Music Homepage Takeover
Artwork is still seen on NPR’s Tiny Desk
The Challenge
Honor the gravity of the subject and the dignity of the artists — without leaning on victimization narratives or the predictable visual shorthand of prison bars and dated graffiti.
Working closely with editorial and marketing, we set out to recontextualize hip-hop's visual language rather than recycle it.
The Solution
TI designed typography that doubles as visual metaphor — letterforms that pulse with speaker-like energy as sound waves ripple through the design. The type doesn't just say louder; it looks it. The result gives physical form to the podcast's sonic activism.