Laini (Sylvia) Abernathy’s legacy spans beyond her work solely as a graphic designer. The ways in which she used her platform as an activist and college student transformed and communicated visions of an assertive, autonomous racial identity as a Black woman. Her career started very early on in her college years. Abernathy’s work in graphic design challenges senses of fracture while attempts to address the beauty of modern Blackness within its communities. To this day, her work has highly influenced a generation of designers and has most recently been celebrated and showcased in Jerome Harris’ ‘As, Not For: Dethroning Our Absolutes’ exhibition.
During the late 1960s, Chicago’s explosive jazz scene prompted artistic and typographic expression. Abernathy was designing album covers for jazz musicians under Delmark Records. She was one of the few women working in a male-dominated industry and is so-called one of the first Black woman designers to be credited for her work on such album covers. However, a majority of her work beyond still has not been researched and appreciated extensively.
Her work is highly typographic and relies heavily on the use of abstraction and value contrast. She had a natural talent for translating the sounds of each musician into visual and evocative ways. One of her most famous designs includes her illustrated album cover for Roscoe Mitchell Sextet (1966). At the center of the composition, there is a black and white photograph taken by her husband enclosed with various rippling black and white circles, creating almost a hypnotic effect. Abernathy’s choice of chunky sans-serif typography and graphic forms is highly emblematic of the Black Arts Movement.
Abernathy is also known for working on the Wall of Respect (1967), a community mural in the South Side on 43rd and Hayward Streets of Chicago, prompted by the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC). She proposed to divide the mural into various themes that highlighted and celebrated more than fifty portraits of Black Americans in realms of politics, music, athletics, drama, literature, and religion. Some figures include Malcolm X, Aretha Franklin, and Nat Turner. Her work was unique because she was able to combine elements of type, image, and color in a flawless and communicative manner. Abernathy’s vision for her work resembled the notion of “art for the people’s sake” and reflects a core belief of defining black art on her own terms. She worked with multiple artists collectively to bring this vision to life and to reveal the beauty and legacy of revolutionary Black figures.
Today’s designers can learn plenty from Abernathy’s effort to question, inspire, activate, and challenge communities with an objective to promote the histories and legacies of Black Americans. Through her graphic and typographic work, she has further influenced and paved ways in which social impact and awareness can be brought about in the greater realm of graphic design.
References:
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| Album Cover Design for Leon Sash (1967) |
During the late 1960s, Chicago’s explosive jazz scene prompted artistic and typographic expression. Abernathy was designing album covers for jazz musicians under Delmark Records. She was one of the few women working in a male-dominated industry and is so-called one of the first Black woman designers to be credited for her work on such album covers. However, a majority of her work beyond still has not been researched and appreciated extensively.
Her work is highly typographic and relies heavily on the use of abstraction and value contrast. She had a natural talent for translating the sounds of each musician into visual and evocative ways. One of her most famous designs includes her illustrated album cover for Roscoe Mitchell Sextet (1966). At the center of the composition, there is a black and white photograph taken by her husband enclosed with various rippling black and white circles, creating almost a hypnotic effect. Abernathy’s choice of chunky sans-serif typography and graphic forms is highly emblematic of the Black Arts Movement.
 |
| Album Cover Design for Roscoe Mitchell Sextet (1966) |
Abernathy is also known for working on the Wall of Respect (1967), a community mural in the South Side on 43rd and Hayward Streets of Chicago, prompted by the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC). She proposed to divide the mural into various themes that highlighted and celebrated more than fifty portraits of Black Americans in realms of politics, music, athletics, drama, literature, and religion. Some figures include Malcolm X, Aretha Franklin, and Nat Turner. Her work was unique because she was able to combine elements of type, image, and color in a flawless and communicative manner. Abernathy’s vision for her work resembled the notion of “art for the people’s sake” and reflects a core belief of defining black art on her own terms. She worked with multiple artists collectively to bring this vision to life and to reveal the beauty and legacy of revolutionary Black figures.
 |
| Wall of Respect (1967) Community Mural |
Today’s designers can learn plenty from Abernathy’s effort to question, inspire, activate, and challenge communities with an objective to promote the histories and legacies of Black Americans. Through her graphic and typographic work, she has further influenced and paved ways in which social impact and awareness can be brought about in the greater realm of graphic design.
References:
“From the Collection: Laini (Sylvia Abernathy).” From the Collection: Laini (Sylvia Abernathy) – Letterform Archive, letterformarchive.org/news/laini-sylvia-abernathy.
Morley, Madeleine. “Celebrating the African-American Practitioners Absent From Way Too Many Classroom Lectures.” AIGA Eye on Design, 1 June 2020, eyeondesign.aiga.org/celebrating-the-african-american-practitioners-absent-from-way-too-many-classroom-lectures/.
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