Designed to Be Red Book Talk & Signing
6:30–7:30pm
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Join Poster House for an evening with Brian Johnson, author of Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Graphic Works.
As the first publication dedicated to Indigenous typography, poster design, lettering and graphic arts across the Americas, Designed to Be Red celebrates Native designers’ joy, subversion, pride, and innovation—centering those who have been excluded from colonial design narratives.
From traditional Indigenous creative practices to modern day graphic expression, Johnson presents an expansive look at centuries of rich Native artistry. During the event, he will discuss his approach to researching and writing the book as well as its connection to the Poster House exhibition Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Poster Works.
Doors open at 6:15pm.
The event will conclude with a Q&A and book signing. Copies of Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Graphic Works will be available for purchase in the Poster House Shop.
Brian Johnson (Monacan Indian Nation) is a designer, curator, and partner at Polymode. He is a co-founder of BIPOC Design History, an online learning platform, and has lectured and led workshops at the Walker Art Center, the School of Visual Arts, the Institute of American Indian Arts, AIGA’s National Design Conference, and the Rhode Island School of Design. His clients include The New York Times Magazine; MIT Press; A24; Nike; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. A 2025 Mellon Fellow at IAIA’s Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts and recipient of the 2023–24 Hyperallergic Emily Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators, his work centers Native-made design to combat erasure and decolonize the field.
Accessibility Note: Masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is also available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact events@posterhouse.org.