James Johnson, a student in the MFA program in JSU’s Art & Design Department, has been in the process of creating a campaign titled “Black Men Design” that will be displayed as his thesis show. According to Johnson, “Black Men Design is a PSA, a movement, a statement, and a future mentorship program that will provide the tools and resources to teach young black boys how to become designers, more specifically, graphic designers, so they can pursue a career in design and break the diversity gap currently in the design industry.”

Johnson was driven to create Black Men Design after he noticed the lack of black people in the MFA program when he enrolled. “There was one student before me and one in my third year here, but it still wasn’t enough.” It was through research that Johnson discovered that the minute presence of Black people in the MFA Department is not singular to JSU. The number of Black people working in the design industry “was only 3% compared to their Caucasian counterparts of 71%. This motivated me to discover a way that I could help and become part of the solution to bridge black boys to design,” Johnson explained. There were slight difficulties in the creation process, as Johnson had to continuously tailor his designs and ideas to be applicable to his target audience of black boys aged 12-18 years old. “This was very tedious with my designs, in terms of edits and changes. I also spent late nights working on my designs and lacked sleep, but it was all worth it to get to this point.”

There are two things that Johnson hopes that audiences will take away from his show: more Black people are needed in the design industry, and Johnson, himself, is working to be part of the solution. “It’s unacceptable that only 3% of African Americans are active in the design industry… I want [the audience] to see my future organization and how I plan on utilizing it to expose young black boys to design,” stated Johnson.

Johnson’s thesis show is an open invitation event that will take place on April 14^th in the Drama Department lobby of the Stone Center at 6 PM CST.