Revolutionary Graphic Design 101: Emory Douglas
I am a huge fan of Emory Douglas, a world-renowned graphic designer and former minister of culture for the Black Panther Party. He was the art director of the group’s newspaper, The Black Panther. Under his 12-year leadership, he perfectly visualized this revolutionary movement in the black community. His designs not only uplifted the conscience of African-Americans, but also inspired other revolutionaries of color around the world.
What makes his art so great is that it is still very relevant today, as police brutality continues to be a big concern for many African-Americans. So it kind of came as a shock to me when I recently met up with a couple of young, black artists who were involved in the Black Lives Matter movement who said they had never heard of Douglas!
This is a man everyone – artists, graphic designers, activists and human beings in general – should know about. Here are a couple of videos about him.