Originally published at medium.com/@SabrinaHallnyc on January 2, 2019.
A few weeks ago I was looking online for Black Graphic Designers from the past. I was on the beginning of a micro-journey that day to learn about the voices in Graphic Design that I had not learned about in school and the impact they had on the world. In the midst of this search I found an article titled 10 influential black designers from past to present from Lucidpress. From the ten designers listed I only knew of three and felt as though an important part of my design education was missing. One of the individuals that stood out to me was LeRoy Winbush, as he had a breadth of experience, was a black art director and designer, and curated museum works during his lifetime (1917–2007).
When I first saw LeRoy Winbush’s work, I loved the composition, color, and use of typography in his work. The combination of handwritten details and large blocks of color highlighted the work of a designer whose style was bright, playful, and had movement. I realized in searching for more on LeRoy that seeing work outside of my design school lens was important. It creates diversity of thought in design and therefore diversity of storytelling through design. Design history is important for me at this stage in my career because I want to continue having an impact on the design community, and working with / providing resources for those from marginalized groups. I believe that part of this work requires learning more about design history and researching about designers like Leroy who were left out of my educational narrative. Seeing designers that one might be able to relate to, for me, creates a sense of belonging, community and motivation. By sharing this with others I hope to impact the narrative of who is considered important in design history.
“I realized in searching for more on LeRoy that seeing work outside of my design school lens was important.”
While discovering more of LeRoy’s work, I found that these album covers (pictured below) are circulated with frequency online — with good reason. They all have interesting compositions, a balance of type and different concepts.
Album cover designs — image sourced from Lucid Press Article
Of the four album covers in this grouping, the bottom right design for the Swan Silvertones resonated with me the most — the use of colors along with the shapes and how they overlapped made me happy and inquisitive. I wondered — what made LeRoy design this album cover in this way? The style of this cover varied from some of his other works I had seen, which were photo mixed compositions of design. This cover stood out to me because of the CMYK 4-color printing palette and the serif font used only at the top. It felt different from the others, yet I understood that this was also LeRoy’s work and part of his portfolio.
I also had to learn and understand who the Swan Silvertones were. Further research indicated that they were an African-American gospel music group. Making my way through their music on Spotify, I enjoyed their sound. It was a blend of blues, jazz, rock, and soul. As I listened to a few tracks, I thought to myself “is this is what LeRoy listened to and grooved to perhaps before, during and even after designing this album cover?” On the track “Trouble In My Way,” you can grasp their energy, harmonies and unique sounds that made them so popular and soulful.
After listening to their music, I reevaluated the cover to think more about his possible inspirations and ideas behind his design. Perhaps these shapes on the covers were swans, perhaps they were also the are the notes jumping on a page — the color of harmony and soul. Perhaps they were both. For me, this album cover contained a different energy from others and was not defined by a simple cover shot of the performers in their Sunday best. Its abstract style spoke to LeRoy’s artistry and creativeness.
Who was LeRoy and why did I choose to write about him? Well, I was taught very little about designers of color in college, and with working two part-time jobs and attending school full-time, I did not have the foresight nor bandwidth to inquire about other non-textbook designers on my own. With more time and resources now, I want to learn more about other graphic designers, their achievements in design history and add to the narrative — as it is important for me to see more people of color in design history.
The AIGA archive on LeRoy Winbush stated “Although Winbush insisted that he wanted to be known as a ‘good designer,’ not a ‘black designer,’ he “believed he could use design as a tool to help the black community,” says Lockhart. An example of this is when LeRoy applied his skills to design and establish a long running sickle cell anemia exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. I believe that his work to exhibit this disease and promote knowledge was a form of representation for those who faced medical hardships in his community. According to the CDC sickle cell anemia “is particularly common among those whose ancestors came from sub-Saharan Africa; [and] Spanish-speaking regions in the Western Hemisphere” — which impacted a big part of the Chicago community. LeRoy’s love for design and his community permeated through design works like this. LeRoy created an exhibition that created awareness for the community of Chicago and others for years to come.
LeRoy succeeded through challenging circumstances and gained experience through his hard work. After graduating high school, he worked at sign shops and expanded his career from there. His career evolved from creating murals, flyers, album covers, and merchandising displays, to working with Disney, to establishing his own firm Winbush Associates in 1945. LeRoy’s work was created with a lens that I believe was always thoughtful of who was going to be reading and seeing it. It was not just design for personal gratification but to be of service to others.
Writing about LeRoy now changes my Design History narrative. The process of researching, learning, writing and sharing creates a new found excitement and accountability to then share this new knowledge with others. It makes me accountable to share this with someone else; someone who may also be looking for their own LeRoy.