The New Brownies’ Book:
A Love Letter to Black Families
Chronicle Books

The New Brownies’ Book reimagines the very first publication created for African American children in 1920 as a must-have anthology for a new generation. Expanding on the mission of the original periodical to inspire the hearts and minds of Black children across the country, esteemed scholar Karida L. Brown and award-winning artist Charly Palmer have gathered the work of more than fifty contemporary Black artists and writers.

The result is a publication bursting with essays, poems, photographs, paintings, and short stories reflecting on the joy and depth of the Black experience—an immersive treasure trove that reminds readers of all ages that Black is brilliant, beautiful, and bold.

Design
Breakdown

My role within this project was to design the entire publication, from cover to interior.

I started off by creating a number of design concepts of routes we could explore for both the cover and interior. In keeping with the essence of the publication, I was keen for all the beautiful artwork featured, to be the core element within the design. 

The book feels precious and looks luxurious. It portraits what it means to be black today. For the cover imagery, I was conscious to select an image that would best capture the reader’s attention. The chosen one shows a young black girl dressed in a ballerina outfit staring confidently ahead. Hopefully, this distills the message of uplifting, which is the focal point that the authors wanted to communicate as the ethos of the publication.

I proposed to the client that the cover of this 208 paged hardback publication has a gold-foiling spine. Then, to give some more tactile feeling, the titles were embossed on top of the gold.

You can order a copy of the publication from WHSmiths (UK) and Hudson Booksellers (US).

Press

Since the publication has been published it has been featured on a number of platforms and news shows, both in the UK and US.

The below are just a few to list: 
CNN
The New York Times 
WCVB News Center 5

Creative Boom
The Portia show [image above]
Print Magazine
Schomburg Center
Black Enterprise


The New Brownies Book has also won the award at the 55th NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work-Non-Fiction [minute 11:20]

Testimonials

“Kieron is a master of his craft. He designed the latest book for me and my co-author.” “He demonstrated a keen eye for all elements of design, from the artistic layout and font curation to the more elusive and emotion provoking dimensions of design. He is super professional, meets deadlines ahead of time, and really listens to his client's wants and needs. As a result, our book is absolutely gorgeous, first class in its presentation, and primed to reach the top of the NYT Bestseller list.”
- Dr. Karida L. Brown, Author


“This is a must-have for Black youth to experience art, photographs, and stories that will entertain the entire family.”