I’m Walkin’ for My Freedom presented the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes and work of photojournalist Matt Herron. Based in Mississippi in the early ‘60s, Herron covered the Civil Rights struggle for Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, and the Saturday Evening Post and provided pictures and support for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

In designing the brand identity and environmental graphics for this exhibition, I wanted to be very intentional with my design choices. It was integral to this visual identity to incorporate BIPOC creators in some way throughout the designs, especially with the subject matter having narrative themes that dealt with race and injustice. 

In my research, I was drawn to the design and materiality of protest posters used in the marches at Selma and throughout the Civil Rights Era. I proposed creating a wall of protest posters as the entry wall graphic for the exhibition. Throughout the brand identity, posters, and environmental graphics, the typefaces used were created by Black type designers Joshua Darden (Freight) and Tré Seals, founder of the type foundry Vocal Type (Bayard). 

The posters were printed on a Risograph using paper that was indicative of the materials available at the time, with rough cut edges and creases to add to the authenticity. To complete the aesthetic, the posters were then wheatpasted to the wall to create the entry environmental graphic for the exhibition.