Momo Pixel

Last updated
Momo Pixel
Born
Louisville, Kentucky
Alma mater Savannah College of Art and Design
Occupation(s) Video game designer, art director, advertiser
Known forCreator of Hair Nah

Momo Pixel is a video game designer, art director, and advertiser. She is best known for her work focusing on Black women, including Hair Nah, a game dealing with issues of African-American hair.

Contents

Early life and education

Pixel is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. [1] She holds a degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. [1]

Career

Pixel was an art director for the advertising company Wieden+Kennedy. [2] She has worked on ad campaigns for companies such as Nintendo, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Instagram. [3] [4]

In 2020, Pixel exhibited an interactive art installation at the MassArt Art Museum called Momoland LvL4. The exhibit consisted of a virtual reality game, her paintings, and a sculpture. [5] [3] She also designed a mobile game in support of an album released by NLE Choppa. [6]

After moving to Portland, Oregon, Pixel encountered multiple strangers touching her hair, which was long and braided at the time. [7] Pixel created Hair Nah in response, a web-based game where players control a black woman who has to deflect hands trying to touch her hair. [8] The game allows the player to customize their player character, choosing from multiple hair styles and skin tones. [9] The game was considered a viral success, and was covered by Vice and Newsweek . [1]

Pixel received positive feedback from people around the world, "expressing gratitude for drawing attention to the daily forms of objectification that users experience". [9] Researcher and professor Kishonna Gray has cited Hair Nah in her classroom teaching, citing the ability to "swat away" unwelcome touching as giving power and agency that was "not afforded [to] Black women in traditional settings". [10] The game was also praised for demonstrating anti-racist resistance in popular culture. [11]

Pixel worked on an augmented reality game filter for Google Play which was "partly inspired by the obstacles young Black girls face in the gaming industry". [12]

Awards and honors

In 2024, Pixel received a Black Tech Achievement Gaming Award which honors "those who are making an impact and are championing diversity within the gaming sector". [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Diehl, Caleb (May 29, 2018). "Artbreaker". OregonBusiness.com. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  2. ↑ Seraaj, Intisar; Zdanowicz, Christina (November 18, 2017). "A video game for black women tired of people touching their hair". CNN. Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Yeh, James (December 18, 2020). "The 8-bit viral game designer pixelating Black women's experiences". Inverse . Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  4. ↑ Brinkhurst-Cuff, Charlie (November 21, 2017). "Meet the creator of viral hand-swatting hair game Hair Nah". Dazed . Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  5. ↑ Goldstein, Meredith (February 24, 2020). "The MassArt Art Museum opens with a bash". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  6. ↑ Jordan, Atiya (May 29, 2023). "Get To Know These 9 Black Women Who Did Not Come To Play In The Gaming Industry". Black Enterprise . Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  7. ↑ Nasir, Noreen (December 19, 2017). "Online game to players: Don't touch black people's hair". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  8. ↑ Payne, Teryn (January 5, 2018). "Momo Pixel "Hair Nah" Video Game Interview". Teen Vogue . Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Benjamin, Ruha (February 6, 2024). Imagination: A Manifesto (A Norton Short). W. W. Norton. ISBN   9781324020981 . Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  10. ↑ Marotta, Melanie A. (December 30, 2021). Critical Pedagogy, Race, and Media: Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education Teaching. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781000509205 . Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  11. ↑ Feagin, Joe R. (May 21, 2020). The White Racial Frame: Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter-Framing. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781000071450 . Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  12. ↑ Pennington, Latonya (February 11, 2022). "10 Black Women in Gaming You Need to Know". Gayming Magazine . Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  13. ↑ "US Nomination Categories & Finalists 2024". BTAAwards.com. 2024. Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
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