Marvel At Xbox’s New Indigenous Sphere Designs

Marvel At Xbox’s New Indigenous Sphere Designs

For this year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Xbox has worked with Indigenous artists across the world to redesign their iconic sphere logo in culturally authentic styles. There are five designs in total, including two created by Indigenous Australian artist Rubii Red and Māori artists Haimona Maruera and Dillon King, respectively.

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated every year on August 9, so it’s great to see a massive corporation like Xbox participate in the celebrations in a genuine way. It’s also an excellent way for these Indigenous artists to showcase their communities, culture and talent to everyone around the world.

What excites me the most about this collaboration is that it features a First Nations Lama Lama woman, Rubii Red, who partnered with Xbox ANZ to create the Australian Indigenous sphere logo design. Speaking about her artwork, Rubii said the design was an ‘interpretation of connection, community and journey’.

“A lot of my work reflects those themes, because as a First Nations woman, they are important to me and have helped shape me into the person I am today. I’m on a journey, learning about who I am by connecting to the community and learning more about my culture from my Elders,” said Rubii, who produced the stylized Xbox Sphere logo in the traditional Lama Lama style.

Indigenous Xbox Sphere Logo. Image: Rubii Red / Xbox ANZ

As an Indigenous Australian myself, it’s always heartwarming when I get to see our incredible culture showcased on a global platform. To me, it’s super cool that Xbox partnered with Indigenous artists to bring something meaningful to their company and such an iconic logo. I also hope that this sparks conversations, both overseas and domestically, about the beauty of First Nations Australians and the creative powers that we hold.

It’s not just Indigenous Australians featured in the designs, however. Our good neighbours in Aotearoa (New Zealand) also had a traditional Māori design showcased by Haimona Maruera (cultural advisor) and Dillon King.

According to Haimona, as proud descendants of Ngāti Ruanui, Te Āti Haunui-ā-Pāpārangi, Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, the Xbox Sphere design derives from the Māori atua (god) named Māui.

Indigenous Xbox Sphere Logo. Image: Haimona Maruera and Dillon King / Xbox ANZ

“Māui was the infamous atua known by several names such as Māui- Pōtiki (the last born), Māui-Tinihanga (the mischief), Māui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga (the topknot o Taranga), and Māui-te-whare-kino (the house of trouble).” Haimona explained.

“This infamous atua brought the inquisitive and the intellectual attributes to our world. This Xbox logo represents the key art functions of Te Ao Māori, which we practice as guardians of our culture and identity,” continued Haimona.

According to Haimona and Dillon, the redesigned Xbox Sphere depicts the multiple art forms that the indigenous people of Aotearoa uphold and practice as carriers and guardians of Māori culture and identity.

The other designs have been created by Chief Lady Bird, a Chippewa and Potawatomi First Nations woman, Carl Avery, who created the Xbox logo with inspiration from the Yurok people and Bethany Fackrell, a Snoqualmie Tribe member.

Indigenous Xbox Sphere Logo
The other Indigenous Xbox Sphere logo designs. Image: Chief Lady Bird, Carl Avery, Bethany Fackrell / Xbox

Swedish artist Petra Bandström also collaborated with Anna Erlandsson (community manager at Bethesda Nordics) to create a painting that ‘captured the proudness and freedom of the Sámi people combined with Bethesda elements’.

Image: Petra Brandström / Xbox

While it’s becoming a lot more common to see companies and businesses change their logo designs to reflect movements like Pride, Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week and similar days, a lot of the time, it can come across as performative. This is especially true when there really isn’t anything done by the company outside of changing the logo.

But it seems like Xbox actually took the time and effort to help foster a space where Indigenous artists could create artworks that are not only breathtaking but also deeply significant for underrepresented people around the world.

Again, seeing an Indigenous Australian design on the logo of one of the biggest gaming companies in the world feels really special to me. To know that Xbox has also worked closely with the artists individually means a lot.

As Xbox said in their press release about the designs, representation means a lot. So despite people seeing gestures like this as performative or symbolism, it’s important to people like many other Indigenous people and me to have representation like this. Especially in an industry where were are still working on authentic representation in characters and stories.

The Head of Xbox Social Impact and Co-lead for Xbox’s Indigenous Community Group, Jenn Panattoni, wrote a pretty touching introduction to the designs, which you can check out here. In it, Jenn talked about how, as a person with Indigenous Karuk heritage and a leader in the gaming industry, she could represent Indigenous people through her work.

Xbox isn’t just stopping at logo redesigns, however. It’s also taking additional initiatives to help celebrate and platform Indigenous people around the world for the rest of the year, not just for one day.

The various initiatives include Xbox Ambassadors sharing stories about Indigenous representation in gaming, highlighting games curated by Indigenous communities at Microsoft and Indigenous streamers getting featured on Xbox Plays on their Twitch channel.

In addition to the new custom sphere logos, Xbox has introduced new gamerpics, profile themes and avatar items throughout August.

Let’s hope others in the gaming industry take note of this representation and follow suit.


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