Art and Design Commons^™

I Object, Caroline Creamer

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Letter 166 Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote to Booker T. Washington in response to his rebuttals of the commissioned song Dunbar was asked to write for the Tuskegee Institute. The Tuskegee Institute was the first higher education institute opened for African Americans. Booker T. Washington was one of the founders who helped establish the school. During the time of this letter, Dunbar was struggling with his tuberculosis diagnosis, however he was still writing and producing new work. Within this letter Dunbar debates Washington’s views and objections …

From Despair Comes Future Hope, Ainsley Betz

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Medium: Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides
Work displayed here as a diptych

Artist's narrative: Letter 3 was written to Dunbar’s friend and mentor Dr. James Newton Matthews. The letter focused on Dunbar’s despair following his publication and recital at the Western Association of Writers Conference, where he was not able to sell any of his poems. This caused him to doubt himself and his ability. The color blue was used to represent these feelings of sadness and self doubt. Negative words were pulled from the letter and applied at various …

Wish To Be, Try To Be, Madelyn Selong

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative:

Letter 21 details the events Paul Laurence Dunbar experienced following the Chicago World's Fair. Dunbar writes to Frederick Douglass, whom he had made friends with at the World's Fair after reading his poems there. The beginning of the letter tells the story of Dunbar’s gratitude toward Douglass as he promises to try to be worthy of the interest Douglass took in him. The end of the letter has a less positive tone, with Dunbar reflecting on some unfortunate events that occurred at the …

Come In, A Very Clever, Aaron Swerlein

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: The typeset I chose was in the families of Ten Oldstyle VF, designed by Robert Slimbach, and PestoFresco, by Giuseppe Salerno and Paco Gonzalez.

In letter 198, Paul Laurence Dunbar is sitting in his bed suffering from tuberculosis as he writes a letter to Dr. Fisher. Throughout this letter, Dunbar writes about how he isn’t able to do much because of the tuberculosis disease in his lungs. Dunbar wrote this letter the year before he died, letting Dr. Fisher know his whereabouts and …

Don't Be Startled, My Dear Mother, Jon Quiroz

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's statement:

In Letter 66, Paul Laurence Dunbar aims to reassure his mother, Matilda Dunbar, not to be so concerned about his whereabouts. He emphasizes that he will return home as soon as he can. Within the letter, he sends a $2 bill to give financial support during his busy schedule of recitals, particularly in the South—a gesture that underscores his devotion to his family’s well-being even in his absence. Dunbar reassures his mother that after gaining great success from his writing, all the financial …

The Act, Erin Doherty

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Letter 121 explores the struggles Paul Laurence Dunbar faced with alcoholism and the scrutiny he received for his illness. As Dunbar writes an apology letter to Professor P.M. Pearson for his absence due to excessive drinking, his sincere apologies shine through. Dunbar explains how he is aware that his apology can’t erase showing up to a recital intoxicated, which led to his career being tarnished; however, he still asks for forgiveness. The imagery was created with an ink-water solution. This allowed for an …

Paul L. Dunbar: A Tale Of Two Worlds, Brayden Vaughan

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Letter 3 is a poem full of despair and sadness. While Paul Laurence Dunbar does have limited moments of happiness, he is mostly addressing his sorrow and negativity to his friend J.N. Matthews regarding the publication of his work. Dunbar lists his discouragement and blames himself several times throughout his writing. He is very annoyed at himself for his disappointments because he has only been able to sell two of his hymns. He even addresses a statement saying: “But enough of myself and …

Growing Pride, Elaina Doggett

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Letter 166 unfolds Paul Laurence Dunbar’s reaction to a critique he had received by Booker T. Washington regarding "Tuskegee Song," which Washington commissioned Dunbar to write. In this song, Dunbar discusses the triumphs and tribulations of the past, present, and what would come in the future. The poster title “Growing Pride” represents both the South’s pride and Dunbar's. He was unapologetic in his response to Washington and stood firm in his beliefs that his original writing was most effective. The imagery is a …

Grateful But Discouraged, Noah Davisson

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Letter 21 is from Paul Laurence Dunbar to Frederick Douglass, expressing his thanks to Douglass for his help in Chicago. Dunbar was showing his gratitude toward him and his wife and how he would not forget their kindness. Dunbar goes on to explain that he is not doing well mentally and that the people in his town did not support him — especially after he came back from Chicago. Dunbar explains how news of him getting thrown out of a hotel for being …

The Elevator Only Goes Up, Jordan Mitchell

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: This letter takes Paul Laurence Dunbar back to when he was not proud of his work. In high school, he thought all of his writing was one big joke. He could not afford much, which led to him being forced to take a job as an elevator hopper. In the end, it was a situation that should be seen as a positive. When talking in the elevator with people, he was able to learn how they spoke and put it into his writing. …

Uneventful, Mary Dent

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 x 36 inches
Media: Inkjet on matte paper
Created using Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, ink, and handwritten calligraphy

Artist's statement: Letter 85 was written to a woman who is still unknown to this day. The opening sentence of the letter states, “In answer I must say that my life has been so uneventful that there is little in it to interest anyone.” Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote this letter explaining the “uneventful” occurrences that he had experienced, beginning at his birth in Dayton, Ohio. Dunbar continues on in the letter brushing through age 12, when he first began writing, …

Irrevocable Harm, Sebastián De León

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Can one experience extreme joy and fear simultaneously? In Letter 62, Dunbar writes to William D. Howells to express his gratitude for the praise he received in Harper’s Weekly. Howells was a prominent Ohioan publisher, editor, and writer during Dunbar’s time. His review of Dunbar’s Majors and Minors is attributed as a major step in Dunbar’s career, as it awarded the Daytonian poet with great recognition. However, though Howell’s article portrayed Dunbar as a great and talented artist, it also painted his race …

Self-Deprivation, Maddison Mitchell

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Paul Laurence Dunbar was a fascinating poet and writer. He was ahead of his time, and his writing was special and loved by all who read it. However, Dunbar was very hard on himself; he talked down about his abilities and writings. In Letter 3, he was writing to a close friend and mentor, James Newton Matthews. He talks about how he is not confident in his writing abilities and is doubting himself, saying he hasn’t been able to sell a single poem. …

Love And Family, Kevin Brun

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's statement: Letter 92 is Paul writing to his mother, Matilda, during his voyage from New York to England. Due to Dunbar’s dedication and love for his mother, he was writing to let her know that he had a rough trip but is doing well. Dunbar was on his way to London to sell his book Lyrics of Lowly Life after he got the approval and recommendation from William Dean Howells—who at the time was known as the “Dean of American Letters.” Near the end …

Similar Flow, Quinn Heisey

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches deep, 2-sided
Medium: Inkjet on matte paper

Artist's narrative: Contemporary readers of letter 121 are hearing from the great Dayton poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, in a declining state and nearing his 1906 passing from tuberculosis [diagnosed 1899]. Dunbar's illness necessitated treatment in a time before antibiotics, and the popular treatment was to use whiskey to manage extreme pain. This contributed to Dunbar’s addiction to alcohol, which is context for the sometimes unclear nature of events and decisions of his that warranted Dunbar to issue this response.

The letter has moments of self-disparaging humor or …

The Uneventful Life, Hannah Schultz

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Letter 85 provides Paul Laurence Dunbar’s negative viewpoint on his successes. Although we are unsure who he is writing to, he writes of his accomplishments from early childhood to the present and calls it all uneventful. He starts off by mentioning how he was only published at age 14 and quickly calls it positive trash. He continues to discuss how he was widely loved in high school and was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, but he wrote the paper a month late …

I Am Doing For The Best, Elaina Lear

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides

Artist's narrative: Letter 66 expresses Paul Laurence Dunbar’s loving relationship with his mother, Matilda, and how his distance away from home worried her. Dunbar explained how his writing career was successful and that wealthy white people were treating him well; therefore, she did not need to worry. One side of the poster reflects the beginning of the letter; it's painted with ink wash representing the home where Matilda resided in Dayton, Ohio. The opposite side represents the Everett House in New York, where Paul was …

Your Affectionate Son, Paul, Isabella Winkler

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides.

Artist's narrative: Letter 66 is a heartfelt reminder written by Dunbar to his Mother, Matilda, in order to ease her mind of anxieties about her son being gone to New York for readings. Dunbar explains to his mother that he is optimistic about his time in New York so far and believes that it is only going up from there. He elaborates that the people in the area seem to be very interested in him and his work. He is having great success so far …

Nervous Conditions, Laurel Grelle

Life in Letters: A Typographic Poster Exhibition Featuring Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dimensions: 30 inches wide, 36 inches tall
Inkjet on matte paper, printed on both sides
Work displayed here as a diptych

Artist's narrative: Letter 174 is addressed to Paul Laurence Dunbar sent from his dear family friend H.A. Tobey. Toward the end of his life, Dunbar struggled to cope with his tuberculosis and turned to alcohol to ease his pain. As his condition worsened, Tobey began to worry about him and wrote him this moving letter of optimism expressing his sympathy regarding Paul living with a painful and deadly disease. The mirroring is showing the side effects of the disease …

Vinyl Cover, Lauryn Harden

Illustration Student Work

For this assignment, I wanted to tell a story of a girl unraveling the stories of the abandon kingdom she's entering. I went a surreal, atmospheric theme for this playlist so I can capture the curios yet ominous journey that the character is about to face. The song that I choose to reflect the illustration was White Palace by Christopher Larkin. The setting has a monochromatic scheme of grays while the character had dulled out colors to show that she's out of place. The character is about to cross the bridge, making her way towards the palace.

Ascend Out Of Your Body, Julie Cheung

Illustration Student Work

An illustration of how it feels to listen to euphoric music that is linked with the Spotify code. All the rhythms and beats come out from her body in forms of color consuming her as she falls deeper within relaxation.

Ddx217 Images For Advertising Example 1, Sae University College

Exemplars

This work is for Project 2 of DDX172. Students had to create a themed portfolio of Illustrator work utilising different techniques. The work shows masterful and successful illustration work. The student was not fazed and went out of their comfort zone.

Closing, Izze Gunn

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

Contributors, Kristan Henderson

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

'A Visual Anecdote Of The Passive Aggressive Fight Against Traditionally Gendered Bathrooms', The Fin(N)S, Fin Smith, Finn Kirkpatrick

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

'The New Woman', Madeline Gonzalez

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

'Un Ratito' & 'Stargazing', Alejandro Rearte, Sarah Hirst

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

'Snow Abyss', Daviana Hayman

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

'Candle' & 'Delu(Ge)(Sions)', Izze Gunn, Sarai Devi Dasi

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

'Let It Consume You', & 'Floating Free', Daniel Juravlea

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.