Learning Module: Celebrate People's History
Celebrate People's History: DIY Poster Workshop
Make your own poster inspired by the Celebrate People's History project!
“The Celebrate People’s History posters are rooted in the do-it-yourself tradition of mass-produced and distributed political propaganda, but detourned to embody principles of democracy, inclusion, and group participation in the writing and interpretation of history. It’s rare today that a political poster is celebratory, and when it is, it almost always focuses on a small canon of male individuals: MLK, Ghandi, Che, or Mandela. Rather than create another exclusive set of heroes, I’ve generated a diverse set of posters that bring to life successful moments in the history of social justice struggles.
To that end, I’ve asked artists and designers to find events, groups, and people who have moved forward the collective struggle of humanity to create a more equitable and just world. The posters tell stories from the subjective position of the artists, and are often the stories of underdogs, those written out of history. The goal of this project is not to tell a definitive history, but to suggest a new relationship to the past.” - Josh MacPhee, Celebrate People's History Curator
In which social justice causes are you most interested?
Select a cause or movement from one of the posters in the exhibition, or research a new cause, event, group, or person who moved forward the collective struggle of humanity toward equality. Download the 11x17 inch template and create a poster that celebrates your chosen cause, movement, group, or person. If you don’t know where to start, use the step-by-step instructions below.
Key Terms and Concepts
- Social justice– means making sure everyone is treated fairly and has equal chances in life. It’s about recognizing when some people or groups are treated unfairly and working to fix those problems so everyone has access to things like education, safety, and opportunities to succeed.
- Social movement- when a group of people come together to try to change something in society, like a law, behavior, or belief. They work together to make things more fair or to improve conditions for others.
- Propaganda- information that is shared to influence how people think or feel about something, often by showing only one side of the story. It can be used to persuade people to support a cause, idea, or group, sometimes without giving all the facts.
- Poster– a large printed or digital sign that uses images and words to share information or get people’s attention, often about an event, idea, or message.
- Headline- the title of a news story or article. It is usually short and designed to grab attention and quickly tell what the story is about.
Make Your Own "Celebrate People's Histoy" Activity
Gather Your Materials
- Old Magazine
- Scrap Paper
- Markers
- Colored Pencils
- Scissors
- Glue Stick
Anything you can find!
Choose a Theme
Select a cause or movement from one of the posters in the exhibition OR research a new cause, event, group, or person who moved forward the collective struggle of humanity toward equality. Not sure where to start? Use this list of topics to begin your research or download the list to share with others.
Create a Headline
A headline is single word or phrase that clearly explains what your poster is about AND grabs our attention. Usually written in an eye-catching font, a headline functions almost like a picture, rather than text. A headline should be large, in an easy to read color, and placed in a prominent location on the page, usually at the top or the very bottom.
Chose a Color Scheme
All the Celebrate People's History posters are printed in just two colors, plus black. So we recommend sticking with the parameters of the CPH project--choose two colors that represent your topic. Sometimes a topic lends itself easily to a color scheme, like blues and greens to represent environmentalist ideas, but sometimes choosing a color scheme is tricky.
Here's a tip: choose a basic color from the color wheel (Google color wheel if needed) that feels like the right fit, and then choose a second color that's at least 3 spaces (or a quarter of the wheel) away.
Chose or Chose and Image
Your image could be a portrait, an image from the news, an icon or symbol, an abstract representation, or any other visual that represents your topic. Look through the Celebrate People's History posters to get ideas or research the visuals already used by your chosen cause.
Put It All Together
Use the poster template provided to put it all together!
Looking for a simpler project? Download the Celebrate People's History coloring page!
Prefer a digital format?
Check out this video on how to create a Celebrate People's History Poster free on Canva!
