Hidden Truths: The Renaissance: The Other History
Cheryl D. Miller, adjunct professor of graphic design, will discuss why decolonizing the history of graphic design requires surveying hidden stories around its canonical eras. Much of the teaching about the Renaissance era celebrates Euro-Anglo-centric history of technological development; i.e., the printing press, movable type and typography design, wood cuts and engraving process. Many of those European developers were colonizers and their main business was the stealing and selling of Africans. A synoptic survey of the Renaissance and the Trans-Atlantic Slavery trade reveals surprising ephemeral corporate communications, advertisements and branding strategies using this new technology in promoting a thriving new business at the time: slavery.