This is the LAST day of Black History Month! I am so honored to be able to share my personal stories and perspective through my work. Thank you so much @design team for giving space to share. We all have stories to tell! #shareBlackstories — Shared originally on @design As an undergrad at @risd1877, @jkey13 (Jon Key) began questioning what it meant to pursue graphic design authentically. “I was making work; nobody was listening,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Do I care?’” So he started writing to pose more questions: What does it mean to be a Black graphic designer from Alabama? “What does it mean for my queerness to interact in what I do?” Over time, Jon contextualized this exercise with a visual system: Green to represent Southernness, red for family, violet for queerness, and black to show “the range and richness of Blackness.” Aside from color, his art is defined by its use of space and forms. Polka dots speak for his grandmother, Polka Dot, and the checkerboard pattern is inspired by his father’s shirts. “There can be space for basic shapes to tell a very complicated and rich story,” Jon said. As in this piece, many of his paintings focus on freedom — “fighting for whatever you’re feeling suppressed by.” It’s something Jon strives to do with his work as an artist, designer and teacher: “Amplify and elevate and make space and push walls further away for people to come in and tell their stories.” Jon is the co-founder of @morcoskey, which received a 2021 #BlackDesignVisionaries grant. He designed a new set Instagram Story stickers to mark #BlackHistoryMonth. #ShareBlackStories #BlackVoices #JonKey #MorcosKey #qtpoc