Black Liberation X Design

Transform how you teach and learn graphic design by putting Black liberation at the center of the curriculum.The graphic design canon has traditionally privileged Eurocentric histories, aesthetics, and ways of knowing, even as Black people and Black liberation movements have profoundly influenced visual culture and design practice. In Black Liberation X Design, designer, educator, and scholar Terresa Hardaway, PhD, provides a framework for recognizing that history and turning it into meaningful design education.Hardaway begins by examining anti-Blackness as a “wicked” design problem. Drawing on BlackCrit Theory, abolition, emancipatory research, and counter-storytelling, she explores how educators and students, regardless of their proximity to Blackness, can move from colonial ways of knowing toward Black inclusion and, ultimately, Black liberation. At the heart of the book are nine original graphic design projects, arranged at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Rather than separating social and cultural inquiry from the fundamentals of graphic design, the assignments bring them together. Students develop skills in areas such as typography, hierarchy, color, image-making, information design, and layout while researching and communicating Black histories and experiences.Through the book’s framework and projects, you will learn how to:Examine anti-Blackness and colonial ways of knowing within design practice, pedagogy, and curriculumUse BlackCrit Theory, abolition, and Black liberation as frameworks for critical design inquiryApply counter-storytelling to challenge dominant narratives and center Black histories and experiencesIntegrate Black liberatory approaches into beginner, intermediate, and advanced graphic design assignmentsDevelop core skills in typography, hierarchy, color, image-making, information design, and layout through culturally engaged projectsConsider positionality and its influence on the artifacts, systems, and experiences designers createThree of the projects have been tested at institutions ranging from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), demonstrating how this approach can engage students and educators across racial identities and differing proximity to Black experience.Black Liberation X Design offers educators a concrete way to expand the graphic design canon and gives students the tools to connect creative practice with critical inquiry. It makes the case that Black liberatory approaches are not supplementary to design education. They can enrich how students learn to research, think, communicate, and create.