The 28 Days of Black Designers project is a design project that focuses on the stories and work of African American / Black designers. The black community lack stories and accomplishments of black artists. To help facilitate this need this 28-day project will allow the awareness and celebration of black designers during Black History Month (#BHM). Yes, I agree that this should be a year-long celebration but #BHM is the right marketing tool for the curation and execution of this kind of project.
Why is this needed?
In 2016 the AIGA and Google design census results revealed blacks only make up 3% of the design industry. As people of color know, there are many issues that are affecting us, but the most prominent is visibility. As a way to combat the issues designer, Tim Hykes curated this project as an answer.
The 2018 Project year
For the 2018 project, the goal is strategic implementation. Finding artists early to allow for editing, proofreading, and marketing around each designer. Your story is the spotlight, and that is what the readers want to read and see. They want to see your work, and I want to show them that the color of someone’s skin doesn’t matter when it comes to creativity and talent.
The selection process
The goal is to select a wide range of designers from the many different disciplines of design ( i.e., architecture, engineering, exhibition and display, fashion & textiles, graphics/visual communications, interiors, multimedia, packaging, product/industrial). In the selection, I look at you as a whole and your full collection of work. I may follow up with questions about how you made it as a designer. If I see something there, I will extend an invitation to be interviewed.
Are you ready?
So if you are interested, please send your emails and questions to tim@timhykes.com or find me on twitter at @timothyhykes. Also, check out the project if you haven’t. www.28blacks.com
