Newport 1995 Poster

Advertisements that have African Americans as the main focus during and after the Civil Rights Movement. This would fall in the category of American Modernism in which these examples are important and/ or are historical in graphic design history, having a black person(s) front and center in the 20th century is important for representation purposes, especially in times after the Civil Rights Movements. In the past, around from the late 19th century to the 1960s, black people have had a very tainted reputation when it came to advertisements. Showing African Americans as  inferior to white people, made a mockery of with racist caricatures, or shown as inhuman/ animals.The depiction of African Americans in these posters are as normal people, even having them as “main characters” and not props to make a person of lighter complexion look better.

This 1995 poster for Newport cigarettes depicts two African Americans, friends of some sort, having fun with a hula hoop. The two people aren’t shown in a stereotypical way, there’s no mockery of black people in any way. Just two people having a good time together.