Mid-twentieth century American designers had a tremendous impact on national identity and design history— and an overwhelming majority of those who are recognized are white. Korean-American merchandise designer, Alma Shon shaped standards of luxury retail in America and Black graphic designer, Thomas Miller led and contributed to the designs of logos that you still see today— and both artists go uncredited in many archives, unmentioned in design history courses and not even considered in our colonized design canon. 

Curator Margaret Re’s exhibition, A Designed Life, however, has uncovered the work of Shon, Miller, and many other designers in its recreation of three traveling exhibitions that were commissioned by the U.S. Department of State during the Cold War from 1951 to 1954. In addition to composing biographies for Shon and Miller that will be included as supporting research in the virtual exhibition of A Designed Life at the Design Museum of Chicago in 2021, I have identified their work and influence in archives, in hopes of decolonizing the design canon through the inclusion of Shon and Miller’s narratives and work.