CONCEPT:

Jimmy “Duck” Holmes is a blues musician and current owner of the Blue Front Cafe, which is home to the “Bentonia Blues,” a unique style of blues music with its own tuning and distinct “eerie” quality. I looked to Holmes’ connection to the Blue Front Cafe and his distinct gritty sound for the heavily textured poster, and the entire background and textures are derived from my own photographs of the Blue Front Cafe. The Blue Front Cafe also inspired all of the type; the style of his name was inspired by the Blue Front Cafe’s main sign while the writings on the wall match the similar ones on the Cafe. Although they match the style of these writings, instead, they tell Holmes’ story with references to his inspirations, his hometown, and song lyrics. Overall, I wanted my poster to to be just like Jimmy “Duck” Holmes: raw, gritty, and real.

Aubrey Ward

Jimmy “Duck” Holmes

Bailey Wood
IG

Emmett Till

CONCEPT:

For this concept, I wanted to make a poster that highlights the importance of what happened to Emmett Till while also incorporating his innocence due to him only being 14 years old when he was murdered. In my poster, it shows a train leaving Chicago and arriving in the South. I felt as if a train was a very big symbol in the story of Emmett Till. When Emmett Till boarded this train that was heading to Mississippi, he was a child looking forward to the new experiences, and this turned out to be the very thing that carried him to the place where he would suffer from the horrific acts of the Bryant family as well as the social injustice in Mississippi.

CONCEPT:

Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten was a staple of the 1960s folk music revival. She learned to play the guitar upside down, so this unique detail is one that I wanted to reference in the creation of the 1960s music festival inspired poster. The lines radiating from the guitar is a sound wave generation captured from one of her songs, “Freight Train”, as a form of data visualization. The overall arrangement, warm colors, and rough texture used in the poster is meant to capture the energy and movement of Elizabeth Cotten’s music as a visual form.

Cate Deavours
PORTFOLIO

Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten

Avery Nichols
PORTFOLIO

Shemekia Copeland

CONCEPT:

Shemekia Copeland was born on April 10, 1979 in Harlem, New York. She is known for her iconic voice and her strong lyrics. This design was inspired by her song “Ain’t got Time for Hate”. The bright colors were used to reflect the sound of the electric guitar and the themes in song of fighting for equality.

CONCEPT:

Leontyne Price is an American lyric soprano, who was born in Laurel, MS. After years of performing and even attending Juilliard School of Music in NYC, Leontyne became the first African American singer to achieve an international reputation in opera. Being one of the most popular sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera and winning countless awards, I wanted this poster to capture a powerful and structured elegance with architectural forms from the interior and exterior of the Lincoln Center. The colors chosen are representational of the colors of her gown worn in her farewell performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, the colors pulled from the carpet of the Metropolitan Opera, and the colors featured on her album covers. Like music is structured with different technicalities to create a larger body, this abstracted design was created to represent the strength and magnitude of Leontyne Price’s monumental voice and accomplishments.

Jill Horner
IG

Leontyne Price

Olivia Dickey


Ma Rainey

CONCEPT:

Ma Rainey was not only a captivating performer, but she was also unapologetically herself. She refused to shrink herself down to fit the roles members of society wanted her to play, which is why her name is the first thing you see on the poster. What should be small and out of the way is immediately what the viewers' see and take notice of.

CONCEPT:

Nina Simone was a singer, songwriter, pianist and civil rights activist that created urgent, emotional intensity by singing songs of love, protest, and black empowerment. Multiple of her songs reference birds and specifically the song “Blackbird” she sings about the struggle and pain of black women. In my poster I wanted to portray the tension between the birds’ desire to fly and how she created hope through her music. I included the straight lines of sheet music with lyrics from “Blackbird” to represent the initial failure of flight, but then the lines wrap around Nina Simone’s pink gloves, which also make a bird shape to also symbolize herself as a bird. From there, the lines then flow out and up with the birds taking flight and lyrics from “Feeling good” to represent how her words have an impact on the euphoric feeling that comes with liberation from oppression.

Michelle Daschbach
IG

Nina Simone

Clay Shumate


Rev. George Lee

CONCEPT:

CONCEPT:

For my poster, I wanted to reference the crossroads folk lore that helped make Robert Johnson such a popular artist. But I wanted to include the more Hattian Voodoo folklore instead of the typical devil in popular media. So for my "crossroads", I used a veve (a religious symbol of a god/deity) of Papa Legba. Papa Legba being the keeper of the crossroads, serving as the intermediary between the lwa and humanity. I also incorporated symbols involving the blues, such as a Resonator guitar as the moon and the symbol of Robert's record label Vocalion.

Walker DeWitt

Robert Johnson

Sarah Kate Spielman
IG

Etta James

CONCEPT:

In her lifetime, Etta James played an important role in many genres of music: jazz, R&B, soul, rock ‘n roll, and arguably many more. However, James began her musical journey as a child singing gospel and blues. Using rich blue-purples and oranges, I wanted to display the “Matriarch of Modern Music” using graphic shapes and gritty textures that represent the sounds, instruments, and feelings that her music conveys. Together, these shapes imply an abstract form of the matriarch herself. I hope that this poster reveals the layers of influence that Etta James had in the music industry—an influence that she still has today.

CONCEPT:

The idea is to reveal the identity of a legend that has eternally left a soul imprint in the blues industry. Edwards led a life that suggested both exhilarating and distressing standpoints, as he transitioned from working on a sharecropper plantation to becoming a southern bluesman from Mississippi. His background and reputation record in history is linked to some major figures from the first generation of blues singers such as Howlin' Wolf and Charley Patton. These links in blues history inspired the honeycomb pattern, interlaced with the names of those that left an impression in Edwards' life. The texture signifies the resolve to overcome the grit in his life to his well-earned dream.

X'Zadrain Nicks
IG

David "Honeyboy" Edwards

Zoë Williams

IG

Madam C.J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in the US for her homemade hair care products. I chose to go with a purple and turquoise color scheme, since those were her favorite colors via her daughter A'Lelia Bundles, and were featured in her Barbie doll as well. Knowing how to maintain your hair is so important to people of color, especially women of color. So, I decided to make an original typeface based on the packaging for her products, pair that with a quote that I pulled from her: "Hair is Power." along with the curl pattern chart in the back. As far as the overall layout, I pulled from her products and the old newspapers from the times, the late 1800s-early 1900s, with the portrait and the angled boxes. All of these elements capture who Madam C.J. Walker was and who she stood for.

CONCEPT:

I wanted to show what Skip James’s life was like in the most simple way possible. I wanted it to look rough because he did some rough bootleg jobs in his life. Even though he was on a rough path, I wanted to show that Skip was a musician at heart which is why I put his two instruments of choice in his name.

Zach Stepp

Skip James

Austin Brooks
IG

Ma Rainey

CONCEPT:

Through some research I discovered that Ma Rainey preformed in place from carnival tents to big concert halls. In this piece I attempted to put exactly those two things together by depicting a scene where the viewer into a carnival tent, but once inside it is actually a big concert hall.

CONCEPT:

In my research for this project, I discovered that Margaret Walker is a significant figure in the history of literature. She was not only the first African American to win the Yale Younger Poets Award but also collected many awards and accolades throughout her long and successful career. My concept for this poster, at the most basic level, is meant to reflect her many achievements and to highlight her success as a black author during a time filled with turmoil and bigotry. Through my concept, I also wanted to show the reach that her writing had on people. The pages expand from the book and look never-ending; the infinite lines show that the effect her writing has had will never stop being influential and important.

Makenzie Gray

PORTFOLIO

Margaret Walker

Blakely Baioni

James Cotton

CONCEPT:

In my work I wanted to focus on the electric and energizing harmonica playing music of James Cotton. I focused on the use of overlapping bitmaps and incorporating different textures that represented harmonicas and the exciting sound of James Cotton.

CONCEPT:

Although being named the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith's life hasn't always been as fashionable. She grew up in poverty but managed to make a name for herself; she was the highest-paid Black performing artist in the country during the infamous 1920s. Shown within the poster, the spiral staircase represents her rather intricate rags-to-riches storyline. Bessie was a bold, confident, supreme artist who hated the use of a microphone; she was also known for her rather colorful personality and lifestyle hence the preferred palette. To her core, Bessie is a gritty gal with a glamorous presence, and this poster is my effort in shining a light on such a remarkable woman.

Brooklyn King

PORTFOLIO

Bessie Smith

Calvin Hutton

IG

Sam Cooke

CONCEPT:

An incorporation of both is life and death through typography. The guiding motif is the key hole and is accented by the color choices of black, white, and yellow. The type used throughout the piece is taken from his song A Change is Gonna Come which was his efforts during the Civil Rights Movement.

CONCEPT:

My concept for this poster was based on the electricity the electricity that Johnny emits when playing music since he is well known for playing electric guitar. The maze in the poster signifies his unknown birth date that is still up for debate. I felt this was an important part of his personality and must have been difficult to not know your date of birth.

Dustin Smith


Johnny Lee Hooker

Haley Coop
IG

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

CONCEPT:

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, also known as the "Godmother of Rock and Roll," she played her Gibson electric guitar proudly opening the way to the rise of electric blues. She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Eric Clapton. In May 2018, Tharpe was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence.

CONCEPT:

My poster design is based on two concepts, both are related to the justice system and Judge Harvey's efforts to create change. The first concept being a maze, which represents the complexity of navigating the legal system. The second concept I draw inspiration from was the scales of justice. I purposely offset visual elements in my poster to represent the tipping of the scales.

Kate McDunnah
IG

Constance Slaughter Harvey

Olyvia Clayton
IG

James Meredith

CONCEPT:

James Meredith was the first African American to end segregation at the university of MS (ole miss) as well as the USA. The rip with his name inside signifies that he did that. The texture and the crinkle of the paper is to resemble old news paper. The dates at the bottom are his birth date, the day this event occurred, and the fate of his civil rights March.

CONCEPT:

Billie Holiday was a beautiful artist with a difficult life. She suffered most of her life from a drug addiction. I wanted to convey her beauty in a way that also felt uncomfortable and difficult.

Layne Sharp

PORTFOLIO

Billie Holiday

Celeste Brewer
PORTFOLIO

Denise LaSalle

CONCEPT:

I wanted to convey Denise LaSalle's spirit of sensuality and spunk. The stamp is an ode to her song "Lick it Before You Stick It" and the year it was released in. To wear silk, lace, and feathers, you must be a confident woman which is what Denise was. This poster is meant to show her confidence and how she left her mark on Mississippi.

CONCEPT:

Edward James "Son" House Jr. was a devoted preacher and pastor who hated anything to do with Blues Music. Early in his life his family was devoted church goers and he devoted himself to the church at a young age. Once he gotten into the blues he was primarily known for his emotional and vocal intensity in his music. He had a emotional style of singing and an aggressive slide guitars style. In this Poster I went with a stained glass design with a guitar as the motif and really wanted to highlight his background of being with the church. I really wanted to represent how his church background seamlessly translated into his guitar playing and singing.

Thomas Vo
PORTFOLIO

Son House

Taysha Taylor
PORTFOLIO

Leontyne Price

CONCEPT:

Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in 1927 in Laurel, MS and is known for being the first African American to gain international acclaim as a professional opera singer. She made her debut in 1961 as Leonora in “Il Trovatore” at the New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1985, she was a National Medal of Arts recipient. She was nominated for more than 20 Grammys as well receiving a lifetime achievement awards in 1989. In 2008, she was among the first to be a National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honoree. She has established her legacy as a women of color achieving fame during the time of segregation in America.

CONCEPT:

Arthur Crudup grew up as a man that always work whether it was on the farm or on the guitar. The poster shows the gritty side of his music while portraying a positive light as he influenced big names like Elvis Presley and Elton John. He started out playing on a two string guitar that a family member gave him and he eventually added four more string and a spot at a recording booth at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Although he lived a life where he would never see much fame, he never stopped working.

Tucker Witt
IG

Arthur Crudup