Langston Hughes' poem, "I, Too, Sing America"

I, Too, Sing America

by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America

Walt Whitman's poem, "I Hear America Singing"

I Hear America Singing

by Walt Whitman

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand
singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or
at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of
the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows,
robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Today's assignment for next week...

Hi All,

Today you started you "We too sing" designs for Harlem Textile Works. Your all off on the right foot but to help you clarify your ideas to finish your designs I want you to write down WHY your designs look the way they do...

Why are you using the fonts you're using?

Why are you using the colors you're using?

Why are you arranging your words the way you are?

What is the concept behind your idea?

Answer these questions in you Fashion Advisory Notebooks (you can also write or type them on a separate sheet of paper and then staple that into your notebooks).

Note: You don't have to post this to the blog... YET! You will soon, so make sure you resolve any technical issues you may be having in using the blog this week so that you will be ready to post next week. If you had trouble logging on or posting before, stop by the computer lab after 3 with Mr. Pangie to get to the bottom of you issues.

That's all for now. See you next week!

p.s. Take another look at the text designs you saw in class... be inspired, and apply whatever ideas you like to your own designs. Come to class ready to ask how to accomplish the design tricks you want to use.

HTW Graphic Design begins Friday!

Happy New Year Fashion Advisory,

This week's class will be the beginning of you your graphic design work for Harlem Textile Works. You've gotten your feet wet in Photoshop over our last few meetings and you've been thinking of Harlem Textile Works' "WE TOO SING" theme since the beginning of the advisory, now it's time combine the two into awesome and interesting graphic designs that help express the "WE TOO SING" theme:

*Harlem Textile Works’ on going ‘We Too Sing’ project theme is inspired by Harlem Renaissance Poet Langston Hughes famous 1925 poem “I too sing America”, and by Barack Obama’s historic election as President of the United States. Under this theme, area artists and students are invited to consider their own notions of nationality, politics, and cultural pride in various collaborative design projects.

ASSIGNMENT:

Your assignment for this project will be to arrange the words WE TOO SING (text only!) using color's, and typography to express your ideas about the theme. The uniqueness of your designs will depend on you choice of fonts, when and where they are bolded, or italicized, what colors your letters appear in and how you choose to arrange them. There is a world of variation to be found in the presentation of 3 little words!

DETAILS:

You will begin this work in class on Friday, working in teams of two. When these designs are completed you will learn to screen print them at Harlem Textile Works' facility. The printed designs will be displayed at Harlem Textile Works and will help identify who wins an internship with fashion designer Anitra Michelle!