I AM
2018 brings about the 50th anniversary of pivotal moments in the Civil Rights Movement: the Memphis Sanitation Strike, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the black power salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Fifty years on from these key years in the Civil Rights Movement “black individuals still earn 20 percent less than their white counterparts for doing the same job, and are twice as likely to live in poverty conditions” a Vanderbilt researcher says. Despite the progress that has been made, the struggle for equality is far from over.
The first half of the publication gives an insight into the American Civil Rights Movement, looking specifically at key events in the movement during the 5 year window of 1964 - 1968. The second half of the publication mirrors this era fifty years on in the Black Lives Matter Movement from the years 2014 - 2018.
Social movements are shaped by the available technology and the rhetoric of the media at the time. The essence of this has been incorporated throughout the narrative and style of the publication. During the time of the civil rights movement, significant protests and events often went unreported by the mainstream white media which hindered progression, which was highlighted in the perforated french fold spread in the publication. The document size has been taken from the American tabloid dimensions, scaling it down slightly to further reference the idea of media. During the rise of the Black Lives Matter, social media has played an integral role, allowing for a decentralised but coordinated movement. It is a tool that can be used by anyone to organise and resist on a worldwide platform which is different to anything that has previously existed in the struggle for equal rights. The black lives matter side of the publication has incorporated elements such as tweets and subtle iconography to reference this. The consistent use of contrast throughout the two sides of the publication are reference to racial segregation and also to highlight the differentiation in eras.
This publication was awarded a Merit and a membership to the International Society of Typographic Designers.
