Cheryl D. Holmes Miller (born 1952) is an American graphic designer, Christian minister, writer, artist, theologian, and decolonizing historian. She is known for her contributions to racial and gender equality in the graphic design field, and establishing one of the first black-women-owned design firms in New York City in 1984.
Early life and education
Miller is of African American and Philippine American ancestry. Her paternal family is from Washington, D.C. and her maternal family is Filipino Creole from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Miller's grandmother was an indigenous Danish west Indian and Ghanaian. Her great-great grandmother is of Ghanaian descent from St. Johns. Her Philippine grandfather was part of the U.S. Filipino navy as a steward's cook during WWI in 1917. Her grandparents met at the USO and married. Her mother, a Filipino-Creole, came to the United States to attend Howard University. Her maternal Afro-Caribbean Saint-Tomian cousin Larry was installed as a chief of their tribe. Her paternal grandfather was white and American Indian with Patriotic daughters of American Revolution DNA.[1]
Miller graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School. In 1985, she received a Masters of Science in Visual Communications at the Pratt Institute.[2] As a thesis project, she was asked to make a contribution to the field of graphic design and instead of a visual design project she wrote "Transcending the Problems of the Black Designer to Success in the Marketplace" as her thesis.[3][4] Miller's 1985 thesis studies design, sociology and history to give a portrait of African American job prospects.[5]
In May 2022, Miller was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art.[7][8]
In June 2022, Miller was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.[9][10]
In May 2023, Miller received an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute.
Career
After finishing school, Miller worked in broadcast design where she created on-air sets and graphics.[11] During this time she created the logo and identity for BET. After 10 years in broadcasting, she moved to New York City and attended Pratt Institute, and then graduated from Union Theological Seminary.
Writing
In 1987, Print Magazine published an article on Miller's thesis titled "Black Designers Missing in Action."[12][13] The thesis and article started a movement to research and promote more diverse designers and for the industry to develop a discourse on the role of diversity in the practice.[14][5][15][16] In 1990, by Step-by-Step magazine published "Embracing Cultural Diversity in Design". In 2013 she wrote a memoir, Black Coral: A Daughter's Apology to her Asian Island Mother.[17] In 2016, the magazine published a follow-up to the 1987 article.[18][19] The article spurred Stanford University design scholar Michael Grant and the library's special collection director, Regina Roberts, to archive the thesis and catalog of Miller's design work in the Cheryl D. Miller Collection the university. Miller's research found that post-Civil War, the Typographic Union of white printers shut out black and women artisans from the industry to further their own business goals.[5]
Miller's articles are the cornerstone of AIGA's Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce.[11] She is regarded as a trade writer to the graphic design industry. Her influence is seen in the way contemporary graphic designers critically engage with the discipline, on the direction of the field and creators who make up its community, and her thesis is highlighted as crucial text that paved the way for Black designers.[20] Her writing encourages designers and critics to examine the design cannon and discover diverse voices and work who shaped the design industry today. She contends its important due to design's role in social history and by not documenting or understanding all of the industry's practitioners, our society has a weaker understanding of humanity.[21]
In 2020, Miller began additional work decolonizing the history of graphic design through a curated database titled The History of Black Graphic Design, a curated database constructed with the support of Stanford University librarians[21]
Published on Medium in 2020 as part of Future of Design in Higher Education[22] after watching Miller present at IIT Institute of Design, Eugene Korsunskiy writes about their experience listening to Miller share her views about contemporary graphic design elements that symbolize racism and oppression.
"I would like to retire the Paul Rand look. I would like to retire mid-century Helvetica. I want to retire flush left. I want to retire rag right. I want to retire white space. I want to retire the Swiss grid… It is the look of my oppressor… a mid-century era when it wasn’t easy to enter the NY marketplace as a Black designer. When I see that look, the only thing it says to me is, "You cannot enter. You don't belong. You're not good enough."[23]
Miller’s second book publication, HERE: Where the Black Designers Are, was released in October 2024.[24] It is a historical memoir of a life in advocacy and her journey to answer the question: "Where are the Black designers?" This work integrates historical investigation and an urgent call for justice and recognition for Black designers.[25] It "contributes to the decolonization of graphic design’s historical canon by claiming and reclaiming Black contributions to the field."[26] The book concludes with an excerpt from Miller's commencement speech to the RISD class of 2022. In her own words: "Be better than the history I’ve traveled through and make your history far more inclusive and welcoming for everyone to encounter."[27]
Design
In 1984, Miller moved to New York City with her husband, and until 2000, ran her own design studio, Cheryl D. Miller Design Inc.[11][15] Some of the clients included BET, Chase, Time Inc., and American Express. Her personal work was acquired by Stanford University Libraries.[28] She is further collected at The Poster House, New York, and The Design Museum, The Hague.[citation needed] In 1992, Miller was commissioned by NASA to create the poster for Dr. Mae Jeminson. America's first African American woman astronaut.[29]
Available on YouTube, Miller reflects on her long career as a designer. She showcases pieces from her portfolio that are now part of Stanford University's Special Collections and Archives.[30]
On April 3, 2021, Miller was an expert guest on the Design Dedux podcast, where she spoke about gender and race equality in graphic design.[31]
Christian ministry
Miller is a Master of Divinity graduate from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She was ordained in the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Churches USA and is a professional Christian minister.[1]
Awards and residencies
AIGA Medal awarded to Miller in 2021 for Expanding Access
In 2021, Miller was awarded an AIGA Award, one of the highest distinctions in the design field, to designers whose influence, careers, and bodies of work represent exemplary and unique stories of dedication to craft, career growth, and the tightly woven fabric of design, technology, culture, and society. "Miller is recognized for her outsized influence within the profession to end the marginalization of BIPOC designers through her civil rights activism, industry exposé writing, research rigor, and archival vision.".[32] Additionally, the same year, Miller was awarded Cooper Hewitt's "Design Visionary" award.[33]
In 2021, Cheryl became Maryland Institute College of Art William O. Steinzmetz Designer in Residence Scholar.[36] As part of this residency, Miller participated in "Voices: Black Graphic Design History,” where she held conversations with three other Steinmetz D webinar lectures.[37] In 2021, IBM announced that Miller would be the inaugural IBM Design Scholar as part of its Honorary IBM Design Scholar residency program.[38]
Miller was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, February 2021.[39][40][41] In May 2022, Miller was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art.[7][8] In June 2022, Miller was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.[42][10]
In October 2022, Miller was a The One Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2022.
^Washington, Michele Y. (November 16, 2015). "Cheryl D. Miller". The Professional Association for Design. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
^ abCherry, Maurice (June 25, 2018). "Cheryl D. Miller". Revision Path. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
