Field Notes: A look back at The Crisis

By Kristy Tillman

Originally founded in 1910 by W.E.B DuBois The Crisis magazine became the official publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The journalʼs original title was The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races; inspired by James Russell Lowellʼs poem “The Present Crisis”. Published monthly, by 1920 its circulation had reached 100,000 copies. Predominantly a current-affairs journal, The Crisis also included poems, reviews, and essays on culture and history.

The cover design featured a variety of visual techniques, with heavy use of illustration in the earlier years. During the Harlem Renaissance DuBois featured many of the artist from at era for the cover designs. However, as time progressed you can see the cover design featuring photography as the the primary medium almost exclusively.

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Field Notes: Church Fans

by Kristy Tillman
The church fan has long been a fixture in the ritual of worship in African American churches. In the days before air conditioner became ubiquitous, hand held paper fans displaying religious motifs became a staple in southern churches to cool parishioners. Over the last century they have transitioned from simple ephemera into an iconic cultural symbol in the black church. The church fan has been on my list of ʻcurious aboutʼ subjects for some time now. Last week on one of my favorite social media outlets the topic came up again and I decided to dedicate this weekʼs Field Note to taking a closer look at the church fan as a piece of art.

One of the most striking things about the church fan are the motifs displayed that range from traditional religious iconography such as the last super to imagery of black families in worship and children in prayer. It was not uncommon to break from immediate religious representations to feature prominent black leadership such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Outside of its functional use as a body cooling the device the fan took on a life of its own acting as a graphic messenger to the black community. The scenes work as
poetic meditations that reflect a point of view of everyday black life. The imagery also serves as a visual narrative of changing ideals over time within a community.

Within their historical context, it would be safe to say that the scenes represent an enthusiastic idealism that provided a source of strength within what was often one of the few safe havens for Blacks, the church. In their imagery, black church fans, reveal much about the past and their use as a cultural icon which is supported by their continued relevance despite the prevalence of air conditioning.

The use of the fan as an advertising space came to prominence around the early 1900s when the commercial printing press came into wide use. All sorts of businesses from funeral homes to insurance companies placed advertisements on the back of fans. The fans became the best means of advertising to a captive black audience, and solidifying the church as an early economic power.


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Field Notes: Emory Douglas

by Kristy Tillman

In light of all the buzz about newly released documentary The Black Power Mixtape, I thought it would be fitting to highlight Emory Douglas. Douglas was the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party and the force behind the extremely effective and prolific graphic communications pieces of the Black Panther party, most notably the BPP's newspaper. Douglas was trained as an artist designer at the City College of San Francisco. It was there he received foundational lessons on typography and image making. He credits his time there as essential to learning to make messages with meaning. He would eventually come to offer his design skills to the BPP around 1967 after a meeting with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and becoming an official member. He has a secure place on my all time top 5 favorite designers list. Douglasʼ work exemplifies the notion of design for social impact employing human centered design principles at their barest essence. He truly designed with, not for. 

The potent and often very literal images created by Douglas were expressly designed to carry the message of the BPP while contending with the high illiteracy rates in the communities they served. Douglas became a master of distilling often complex messages down into digestible easily understood visual “sound” bytes. This functional aspect undergirded every piece and served to propel the message of the BPP. By the 1970s the newspaper reached hundreds of thousands across the United States. 

He also employed a variety of very cost effective techniques in his work including mimeographs, photostats, lithographs, screentones and offset printing. Douglas did not allow the confines of traditionally low resolution techniques to become a stumbling block for creating images. He effectively used the inherent benefits of the technologies to his advantage.

Douglas continues to work as a graphic artist in San Francisco lending his legendary talent to causes in social justice such as black on black crime and HIV/AIDs issues.

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Field Notes: Curious about Asafo Flags

By Kristy Tillman

I first became curious about the Asafo flags through one of our recreational design sessions at work. I was initially struck by the graphic stories told on each flag. I was also curiously intrigued by the incorporation of some variation of the British union flag in the distinctively local motifs. Within the context of Ghana's colonial history it seems a logical part of the narrative, but the ironic juxtaposition of the two typologies were not at all lost on me. The flags that are made post independence tend to either have no external flag representation or the Ghanaian national flag.

Asafo is a term used for loosely organized military companies of the Fante ethnic group in Ghana. The Asafo were initially charged with defending the territory state but they also are involved in additional stately and social affairs such as inauguration of chiefs and religious events. Each company has a set of flags that illustrates its values through graphic interpretations of proverbs and they can be seen paraded proudly at festive occasions.

Historically, the flags can be traced back over a period of 300 years. The motifs on the flags asserts the wealth and power of the group and serves to challenge its rivals through a distinctive set of symbols, colors and patterns representative of the company. The narratives range from local proverbs, to favor from God and military superiority in capturing enemies. The design language captures a striking balance between traditional story telling and military pomp and display.

The images are striking by their simple, powerful forms; its composition points at a preference for asymmetry, which has a dynamic effect. The flags are constructed through a variety of techniques such as patchwork, embroidery and applique. Each new flag has to be approved by the highest authority within the hierarchy and subsequently inaugurated in a special ritual before it becomes active.

Photographs © Tim Hamill

#Amazing!

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Field Notes: The Photography of Carl Van Vechten

W.E.B DuBois, 1946

Billie Holiday, 1949

By Kristy Tillman

Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) primarily known as a music/dance critic and novelist gained a reputation as a theatrical and society photographer during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Based in New York City, after completing a stint at the New York Times, Van Vechten took great interest in black artists and writers of the time period; documenting many who are considered canonical figures in the black collective as subjects of his work. Many of the sitters, such as W.E.B DuBois, Billie Holiday and Alivn Ailey, were acquaintances of Van Vechten. He primarily photographed them in his studio portrait style, in private sittings, and also at social gatherings. It was also not unusual for Van Vetchen to implore bright colorful backgrounds and elaborate costuming in his photography.

Alvin Ailey, 1955 

Mary McLeod Bethune, 1949 

Langston Hughes and Horace Cayton at Fisk University, 1947 

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Introducing: Field Notes by Kristy Tillman

Field Notes, a division of Kiss My Black Ads, is a weekly column that will explore an eclectic mix of art and design curiosities and interestingness for and about black life, in a more in depth manner. Because the diversity and variety of contributions of the African diaspora often go over looked, Field Notes will bring you a curated selection of goods you didn’t even know you were interested in. Hand picked every week by designer, Kristy Tillman, we hope these pieces will serve up new ideas, insights, and knowledge that serve to inspire and enlighten.

Coming much sooner than you can imagine.



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