Like most of you, I’d been struggling through the stress and isolation of COVID-19. And then a couple of weeks ago the dam of racial injustice broke loose, seemingly out of nowhere but also from a decades-long ticking time bomb ignited by George Floyd’s murder (and others!) and the recent stresses of health and employment. Wow. Heartbreaking. I wanted to DO SOMETHING. To speak out. To join marches. But I feared Corona for myself and my 85-year old father, who I see often.
Then a friend gave me a huge AH-HA moment.. “Why don’t you use your design skills to create posters!?” I wrote and gathered bold, clear sayings from Facebook friends and quickly got to work, and shared them in as many places as I could. Within days, I was tasked to design the logo, posters, and more for Atlanta Catholics March for Justice, And then the same for the Stand Up for Justice, Speak Out Against Racism demonstration in Buffalo.
It’s been very rewarding to feel I was contributing, even in a small way. And what creative person doesn’t love the compliments that come from good design work? But I was left wondering about “finished” design versus the raw power and individualism of hand-drawn, painted, slapped-together signs.
They are often messy and hard to read from a distance. Poor font choices might be made. But the hand-scribed messages are often arresting. And personal. And more emotional than a printed sign could ever be. I wanted to post more photos of those types of signs in this blog, but found many photos already copyrighted by Getty.. (uggh). But I’m sure you’ve already seen many of them.
Where I’ve come to is this: we need both. Bold, crisp design work sets the stage for gathering momentum: the logo, the Facebook event, the t-shirts, the Zoom background for the virtual livestream, the Facebook photo frame. The initial, overall identity creates a needed unity. And then people make the planned protests their own and give them life and impact.
So to those who have gotten out their black paint, markers, cardboard, and heart, I send my full respect. And I plan to keep designing for this cause, too. Even more, I want to listen, to learn, and to think about the big and small ways we can all help in this long-needed revolution of change. Justice, peace, and love. #blacklivesmatter.
You can download the original black and red protest posters for printing and sharing here.
