Momo Pixel
{{short description|American video game designer and artist}}
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| name = Momo Pixel
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| birth_place = Louisville, Kentucky
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| alma_mater = Savannah College of Art and Design
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| occupation = Video game designer, art director, advertiser
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| known_for = Creator of Hair Nah
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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.
Early life and education
Pixel is a native of Louisville, Kentucky.{{Cite web |title=Artbreaker |url=https://oregonbusiness.com/18346-artbreaker/ |last=Diehl |first=Caleb |website=OregonBusiness.com |date=May 29, 2018 |access-date=February 10, 2025 |language=en}} She holds a degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Career
Pixel was an art director for the advertising company Wieden+Kennedy.{{Cite news |title=A video game for black women tired of people touching their hair |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/health/video-game-dont-touch-black-womens-hair-trnd/index.html |last1=Seraaj |first1=Intisar |last2=Zdanowicz |first2=Christina |publisher=CNN |date=November 18, 2017 |access-date=February 10, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210001606/https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/health/video-game-dont-touch-black-womens-hair-trnd/index.html |url-status=live }} She has worked on ad campaigns for companies such as Nintendo, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Instagram.{{Cite magazine |title=The 8-bit viral game designer pixelating Black women's experiences |url=https://www.inverse.com/gaming/momo-pixel-interview |last=Yeh |first=James |magazine=Inverse |date=December 18, 2020 |access-date=February 10, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210001606/https://www.inverse.com/gaming/momo-pixel-interview |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine |title=Meet the creator of viral hand-swatting hair game Hair Nah |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/38128/1/creator-of-hair-nah-momo-pixel-interview |last=Brinkhurst-Cuff |first=Charlie |magazine=Dazed |date=November 21, 2017 |access-date=February 13, 2025 |language=en}}
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.{{Cite web |title=The MassArt Art Museum opens with a bash |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/24/lifestyle/massart-art-museum-opens-with-bash/ |last=Goldstein |first=Meredith |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 24, 2020 |access-date=February 13, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210001606/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/24/lifestyle/massart-art-museum-opens-with-bash/ |url-status=live }} She also designed a mobile game in support of an album released by NLE Choppa.{{Cite web |title=Get To Know These 9 Black Women Who Did Not Come To Play In The Gaming Industry |url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/9-black-women-creators-in-gaming-you-need-to-know/ |last=Jordan |first=Atiya |website=Black Enterprise |date=May 29, 2023 |access-date=February 10, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210001606/https://www.blackenterprise.com/9-black-women-creators-in-gaming-you-need-to-know/ |url-status=live }}
After moving to Portland, Oregon, Pixel encountered multiple strangers touching her hair, which was long and braided at the time.{{Cite news |title=Online game to players: Don't touch black people's hair |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/online-game-to-players-dont-touch-black-peoples-hair/ |last=Nasir |first=Noreen |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=December 19, 2017 |access-date=February 10, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625200827/https://www.seattletimes.com/business/online-game-to-players-dont-touch-black-peoples-hair/ |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite magazine |title=Momo Pixel "Hair Nah" Video Game Interview |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/momo-pixel-hair-nah-video-game-interview |last=Payne |first=Teryn |magazine=Teen Vogue |date=January 5, 2018 |access-date=February 13, 2025 |language=en}} The game allows the player to customize their player character, choosing from multiple hair styles and skin tones.{{Cite book |title=Imagination: A Manifesto (A Norton Short) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wjHEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Momo+Pixel%22&pg=PP53 |last=Benjamin |first=Ruha |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=9781324020981 |date=February 6, 2024 |access-date=February 13, 2025 |language=en}} The game was considered a viral success, and was covered by Vice and Newsweek.
Pixel received positive feedback from people around the world, "expressing gratitude for drawing attention to the daily forms of objectification that users experience". 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".{{Cite book |title=Critical Pedagogy, Race, and Media: Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education Teaching |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxhREAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Momo+Pixel%22&pg=RA4-PA2020-IA4 |last=Marotta |first=Melanie A. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000509205 |date=December 30, 2021 |access-date=February 10, 2025 |language=en}} The game was also praised for demonstrating anti-racist resistance in popular culture.{{Cite book |title=The White Racial Frame: Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter-Framing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3jnDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Momo+Pixel%22&pg=PT364 |last=Feagin |first=Joe R. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000071450 |date=May 21, 2020 |access-date=February 13, 2025 |language=en}}
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".{{Cite magazine |title=10 Black Women in Gaming You Need to Know |url=https://gaymingmag.com/2022/02/10-black-women-in-gaming-you-need-to-know/ |last=Pennington |first=Latonya |magazine=Gayming Magazine |date=February 11, 2022 |access-date=February 14, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210001608/https://gaymingmag.com/2022/02/10-black-women-in-gaming-you-need-to-know/ |url-status=live }}
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".{{Cite news |title=US Nomination Categories & Finalists 2024 |url=https://btaawards.com/2024-us-finalists/ |website=BTAAwards.com |date=2024 |access-date=February 14, 2025 |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210001609/https://btaawards.com/2024-us-finalists/ |url-status=live }}
References
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Category:21st-century African-American painters
Category:21st-century American painters
Category:21st-century American women painters
Category:American advertising people
Category:American video game designers
Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky
Category:Savannah College of Art and Design alumni
Category:Wieden+Kennedy people