Art Direction and Branding for “I AM…” Art Exhibition

“I AM…”, curated by Adrianne Ramsey. The exhibition title is abbreviated from a 2013 painting series made by American artist Hank Willis Thomas titled “I Am A Man.” The images are a reproduction and re-appropriation of the simple, declarative protest signs carried by a large group of Black men during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. The signs are meant to assert Black men’s rights against segregation and racism—affirming their identities as human beings and U.S. citizens, while levying questions of representation, commodification, and the value of one’s identity. 

Inspired by the signs from the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968, this branding and cover graphic of street posters utilizes Martin, a non-violent typeface designed by Tré Seals.

This exhibition and design direction explores a historical through-line starting with the civil rights era imagery and posters conjured by the exhibition’s title, moving into a recognition of the energy and urgency of the identity politics of the 1980-90s, and into our current era of Black graphic designers.

Art Direction by PHI TRAN

Catalog & Graphic Production by MICHAEL NGUYEN