What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker
Book jacket design and author photo for the debut memoir (Ecco/Harper Collins) by award-winning writer, editor, and satirist Damon Young.
1839 was a Pittsburgh-based magazine that takes a nuanced look at the intersection of race, politics, the arts, community and culture in the Steel City and beyond. A pilot project of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater and supported in part by The Heinz Endowments, the magazine was inspired by the life, work, and legacy of Pittsburgh's native son August Wilson. The name itself was an eponymous salute to 1839 Wylie Avenue, the fictitious address of Aunt Ester, Wilson's most significant character. Wilson himself chose the number as a reference to the year of the Amistad slave rebellion. Specifically, then, 1839 was a Black thing. A vehicle for Pittsburgh's Black voices, which are often times drowned out by "the most livable city" rhetoric, to testify and shine and opine.
As Creative Director I designed the identity, the website (a custom Wordpress theme extended by Advanced Custom Fields), and took up the mantle of photo editor and head photographer. Additionally, I collaborated with Co-Editors Deesha Philyaw and Damon Young on the sitemap and shaping the editorial direction.
My goal for the look of 1839 was to create something print design reminiscent--90's VIBE magazine in particular. I was a huge fan of the large format, bold branding, and striking portraiture. The New Yorker and Esquire were artistic inspirations, too. These were/are all destinations where content really shines, but within a visually captivating frame. Geometric shapes and primary colors factory heavily in 1839's styling, and the idea of what it would look like if someone printed out a page from a magazine and took a pen and highlighter to it to circle pullquotes and highlight passages played a huge part, as well.
Our inaugural staff editorial read:
“1839’s mere existence is disruptive. An act of revolution. A contribution to the collective memory and history of Black Pittsburgh and beyond. A declaration of our voices and our art as necessary, as transformative, as evolving, as uncompromising, as here.”
It's my hope that the work I did with 1839 has added another level of style and passion to the landscape of what it means to be Black in The 'Burgh.
Working with huny will give you an education in creativity, visioning, and leadership. In our work together on a digital magazine, she directed the project from concept to full execution, communicating technical matters in such a way that I, as a writer and editor, could understand and appreciate. As a creative director, huny is decisive and clear in her vision, but also flexible and innovative when it comes to new ideas. huny not only met the stated creative vision of the project, but she honed and developed it into something richer that exceeded all expectations, all while being congenial and awesome to work with.
--Deesha Philyaw, Founding Editor
1839 soft-launched with a hero carousel containing the newest piece of content in every category. We liked it visually, but I ultimately decided to lose it for a few reasons--mainly because I felt it could grow stagnant very quickly. If we were publishing content in every category daily, it would be great; however, we couldn't depend on that to be the case. Hero carousels work best to me on sites that update many times a day in multiple categories--thus the need to draw attention to content that'd very quickly leave the homepage otherwise. On a site that, in contrast, updates a couple times a day max, you risk stale-ish content taking up a great deal of real-estate for days of a time. I ultimately replaced this carousel with the "Top Story" area, which is the most recent featured article from any category.
Pittsburgh is doing a lot of things right. Race relations isn't one of them. @1839mag is probably the most important thing we can support
— Justin Reese (@justinxreese) January 23, 2016
@1839mag it's also one of the most well executed projects I've seen. Way to go.
— Justin Reese (@justinxreese) January 23, 2016
Now's as good of a time as any to signal-boost the ever-important work being published in @1839mag. https://t.co/XoFEMN8Sk6
— Ol' Lady J (@OhKaleNaw) December 14, 2015
Also this is my first time learning about @1839mag and wowowow what a gorgeous publication. Everyone should read every article.
— Jackie Shimshoni (@jshimshoni) December 15, 2015
Have also really been really impressed with the writing @1839mag. There is something astir in the burgh, my friends.
— Brianne Jaquette (@brjaquette) February 5, 2016
.@janerasolomon and the staff at @1839mag are bringing life to Pittsburgh media.This is such an exciting moment. Thanks for all you do!
— Karen Abrams (@KVAbrams) December 15, 2015
Book jacket design and author photo for the debut memoir (Ecco/Harper Collins) by award-winning writer, editor, and satirist Damon Young.
Creative Direction, styling, photography, EP booklet design, UX/UI design, front end dev, and a custom Wordpress theme for singer/songwriter and Erykah Badu background vocalist Durand Bernarr.
Marketing, PR, social media content creation, graphic design, and product photography for a store representing over 200 artists located within the most prominent art gallery in the region.
UX/UI design, front end dev, and a custom Wordpress theme for an online platform that highlights the voices, experiences, and ideas of Black youth ages 18-30.