12 Black Artists.
One for each month of the year with deliberate violence inflicted on Black people by the state.
24 Protest Posters.
One for each hour of the day with systemic anti-Black racism.
Fine Acts collaborated with a dozen amazing Black typographers and lettering artists on an open pack of protest posters – ready to be used in action, all yours to print and share.
Take them to the streets. Place them around your neighbourhood. Put them on your windows. Send them to friends and loved ones. Let them amplify your voice.
Once again, and more than ever, it is time. To hope, and to demand. To dismantle, and to build anew.
All featured works are published under a Creative Commons-Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC-BY-NC-SA) and are available for free noncommercial use and adaptation – given the appropriate credit.
If you are an ally to the movement, we ask you to also consider donating to one of the fundraisers listed here: www.ally.wiki
You can also send these posters as postcards to your legislators, through our partners at Congress Cards.
A huge thank you to the artists and designers for infusing their talent, their voices, and their hearts, into these works. Works of note, that are raw, pulsating, unfiltered, honest, powerful. Works that matter.
12 Black artists, 24 protest posters, 1 message:
Black Lives Matter.
Huston Wilson, known as Hust Wilson, is an Art Director and Designer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He grew up learning different design skills to improve his knowledge on the history of design but has an aesthetic for typography and illustration. “Always improve yourself and get out of your comfort box” are words constantly employed within his mind.
Follow Hust @hustwilson
Edinah — the creator behind Wildlogic — is a visual designer and artist co-mingling within various fields of visual communication. What first started as a design mantra, soon shifted into an intuitive design space dedicated to exploring wild and free ideas for culture-led brands.
Follow Edinah @wildlogic
“What’s happening right now is more than a movement, it’s an unveiling, a levelling out of energy if you will. So, empowered by the idea of togetherness, I created these posters in the hope of encouraging and inspiring others to unequivocally stay true to themselves.”
Rick Griffith is a British-born, West-Indian designer based in the USA (Denver CO). Founder and partner in the Design Consultancy MATTER, his letterpress printing is an expression of his writing practice. His writing practice is a reflection of his experience or at least the stuff he remembers.
Follow Rick @rickgriffith
“June 19, 2020. Rick Griffith’s work is typically text and an expression of his writing practice. His writing practice has taken to the brush in a deliberate slowing of his process.
Slow silent fucking rage focused writing every morning for a little while. 26 days since the last workplace safety-related incident.”
Adrian Meadows is a graphic designer, hand-lettering artist and muralist born and raised in Spartanburg, SC. Through his love of letters and design, he has been able to collaborate with numerous companies such as Adobe, Car & Driver Magazine, BuzzFeed News, Makeup Forever, and his hometown, the City of Spartanburg.
Follow Adrian @iiaspire
Kevin Adams is a lettering artist and typeface designer based in New York City. His typographic-centered designs combine elements of pop art, graffiti and propaganda art. Known for his bright color palettes and highly-detailed letterforms, his work has appeared in Entrepreneur Magazine and Typism Books 4 and 5. Recently, Kevin was featured in an editorial about his work by The Brooklyn Circus.
Follow Kevin @kevinadamsdesigns
“Much of my personal work finds inspiration in African American music. African American music has helped to uplift souls, express pain, and give social commentary. The impact of African American music and its importance to the Black experience, to the cultural heritage of all Americans cannot be escaped, regardless of race or origin. These words have personal significance to me and are timely in my message.”
Eso is a lettering artist and brand strategist who creates work rooted in affirmation, pride, and community that allows people to feel safe and inspired. At Cheers Creative, Memphis-based brand and web consultancy, he teaches branding through strategy and storytelling for creative professionals, thought leaders, and social causes. As a lover of community, pop culture, and inner-city life, he uses lettering to highlight current events and promote positive social messages and affirmations.
Follow Eso @coolurbanhippie
“Whether it be for the lives of Black transgendered people being murdered, for Black lives being murdered by police, or for Black people being constantly oppressed by systemic racism, there’s a lot of causes worth fighting for right now. I wanted to make a piece that resonated enough contextually for each cause, but general enough to communicate the overall mandate: THIS HAS TO STOP.”
David Jon Walker is an Assistant Professor of Art at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, teaching Web and Graphic Design. He has honed his skills as a design servant-leader working extensively with community and governmental organizations to provide an aesthetic face and visual messaging for engaging campaigns to bolster community support or simply generate awareness. He also is the owner of Rhealistic, a design and strategy consultancy that provides graphic design and web development.
Follow David @davidjonwalker
“Words matter. Imagery matters. The role of the visual designer is to produce works for specific outcomes. My aim is always to provoke thought, to inform and to aid decisions.”
Gia Graham is an illustrator, lettering artist and Skillshare teacher based in Atlanta, originally from sunny Barbados. Over her 20 year creative career, she has worked in corporate graphic design, run her own stationery business and now focuses on licensing her art to product based businesses.
Follow Gia @iamgiagraham
“In its 2019 fiscal year, the NYC Police Department spent nearly $6 billion. In LA, the budget was $1.8 billion. We live in an era where police officers can kill innocent civilians, walk away and still get paid. The system is broken and the bloated budgets need to be re-evaluated.
In this piece I use sharp angles to convey the urgency of the message. The linear patterns are inspired by the geometric prints found in African textiles and subtly represent the human figure standing firm, arms raised in simultaneous surrender and resistance.”
“Above all, I’m interested in opportunities where I can use design as a tool to talk about things I care about, such as black culture, gender topics and LGBTQ+ rights.”
Leandro Assis is an art director, letterer and artist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Always looking for opportunities where he can use design as a tool to talk about things that matters to him, such as black culture and LGBTQ+ rights.
Follow Leandro @lebassis
Emmanuel Wisdom is a multidisciplinary graphic & hand lettering designer in Philly. He specializes in hand lettering, typography and murals. He teaches hand-lettering workshops to those who are interested in sharpening their lettering/typography skills.
Follow Emmanuel @unadesignco
“Since the European slave ships landed on the coast of Africa in the early 16th century and forcibly uprooted roughly 12 million Africans, people of African descent have been fighting for their freedom all over the world.
Stolen from Africa, brought to America and labeled three-fifths of a man, nearly 500 years later African-Americans continue to survive against all odds. The new generation of African-Americans are focused like Malcolm X with reparations in sight. Uncle Sam is a power junkie and it’s time to cut him off.”
Agyei Archer is a multidisciplinary designer from Trinidad, focusing on commercial work that integrates graphics, type design, and programming.
Follow Agyei @agyei.design
“I made this specifically for the community that I find my biggest challenge with: the design community. It feels as though there is as much focus on the aesthetics of change as the change itself. Since all design people seem to care about is fonts and nice letters, I made a quick guide to help; them reference some blackletter styles.”
Jean Carlos García Suárez (Champola) lives in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He’s an Art Director and lover of typefaces, calligraphy and lettering. He studied Advertising, Graphic Design mention at the University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and currently is an Art Director in a design studio.
Follow Jean Carlos @champolatype
“Love is not about skin color, nor eye color, nor wealthness. Love is about pure feelings and nothing else.”
If you are an Artist/designer, Consider opening up your protest work and sharing it with the world.
Tag us on Instagram @fineacts and Twitter @fine_acts so we can amplify your voice.
