Past Event
Wednesday, March 17 2021
6:00–7:30 pm
Morcos Key
Black Futures
Wednesday, March 17 2021
6:00–7:30 pm
Morcos Key
Black Futures
Pushing boundaries to tell a story
Join us in conversation with Jonathan Key and Wael Morcos, designers of the book Black Futures, the first iteration of “The Black Futures Project” by co-editors Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham. Hear how the team created a dynamic, nonlinear experience to answer the question: What does it mean to be Black and alive right now?
This event will be moderated by Stephanie Moise.
This on-line event will be live-captioned and include ASL interpretation.
A copy of Black Futures can be purchased through Reparations Club. Reparations Club is a concept (book)shop & creative space curated by Blackness in Los Angeles, CA. Black-owned. Woman-owned.
Event Series: Design Spotlight
Morcos Key: Black Futures is part of the Design Spotlight event series. These events are traditional design talks that feature designers or creative teams sharing top of mind or breakout work.
Event chair: Lyanne Dubon-Aguilar
Tickets
Your donation supports AIGA NY and costs associated with events such as speaker honorariums and transcription services.
Schedule
- 6:00 pm Online event begins
- 7:00 pm Moderated discussion and Q&A
- 7:30 pm Online event ends
Tickets
- Free tickets Free
- Suggested donations $10.00
Event recording
Event recording can be found here.
Speakers
Jon Key
Jon(athan) is an artist, designer, and writer originally from Seale, Alabama. After receiving his BFA from RISD, Jon began his design career at Grey Advertising in NYC before moving on to work with HBO, Nickelodeon, and The Public Theater. Now he is co-founder of the Brooklyn–based design studio Morcos Key with Wael Morcos. As an educator, Jon has taught at MICA, Parsons, and currently teaches at Cooper Union. Jon is also a Co-Founder and Design Director of Codify Art, a multidisciplinary collective dedicated to creating, producing, supporting, and showcasing work by artists of color, particularly women, queer, and trans artists of color. Jon was selected for Forbes 30 under 30 Art and Style list for 2020 and was the Frank Staton Chair in Graphic Design at Cooper Union 2018-2019. His work has been featured in Jeffery Deitch Gallery NYC, the Armory Show, The New York Times, The Washington Postand The Atlantic.
Wael Morcos
Wael is a graphic designer and type designer from Beirut, Lebanon. Upon receiving his BA in Graphic Design from Notre Dame University (Lebanon), he spent three years developing identities and Arabic-Latin bilingual typefaces, in addition to working in print and exhibition design. Wael received his MFA from RISD in 2013, after which he moved to New York and worked with several studios in the city before founding Morcos Key. Wael has been featured in Print Magazine’s 15 under 30, was named a Young Gun by the Art Directors Club and an Ascender by the Type Directors Club.
Moderator
Stephanie Moise
Stephanie is a writer and a co-founder of The Denizens Theater Company–currently, she serves as its Artistic Director. Originally from Queens, Stephanie tells stories to bridge the gap between human experiences. Her mission is to showcase the nuance and diversity of our world through creativity.