During the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement last summer, I found myself discovering Black creatives that I probably would have never found otherwise. A big catalyst of this discovery was the social media page/movement Where Are The Black Designers. Started as an Instagram page, WATBD uplifts the voices of Black creators through workshops, takeovers, and donations. Now the platform has a website, a Slack channel for design collaboration and discussion, weekly events, and a virtual exhibition for Black digital art. Their mission is best summarized in a slogan from the fundraising t-shirts they released last Fall:
“Only 3% of all designers in America are Black. This needs to change.”
WATBD, 2020
WATBD is important because it uplifts the voices of Black designers, however it is also a testament to the fact that the design community (and non-designers) are excited to appreciate and learn from Black designers. The account had a couple hundred followers in the first month, but now it has over 40,000. Check out their projects, and give them a follow!
