February 15th, 2021

LeRoy Winbush was born on December 7, 1915, in Memphis Tennessee. As a teenager he moved to Chicago and became a graphic designer after he graduated high school. He got his start working an apprentice in a sign shop. He quickly began designing signage, flyers and murals for the Regal Theater. Later in his career he was designing album covers for groups signed to Mercury Records, such as the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

After working for the Regal Theater, he moved onto a shop at Goldblatt’s, where he became the art director. After his time as an art director, he founded his own firm, Winbush Associates which later became Winbush Design. He also served as the president of South Side Community Art Center. He was clearly a very busy and very talented designer. His work helped him build a strong supporting network in his community in Chicago. He was a designer, art director, illustrator, exhibition designer and teacher. He began teaching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago & Columbia College Chicago, both were he taught typography classes.

Eventually he joined the Art Directors Club of Chicago, were he was the only Black member, and five years later became it’s president. This was a big accomplishment, it also opened up doors for other Black designers and aspiring designers.

As if his design feats weren’t impressive enough, LeRoy learn to swim and scuba dive in his late 40’s. In his 60’s he was part of an underwater crew that built the coral reef for the Living Seas pavilion at Epcot Center. He also became the President of the Twenty Fathom Club, an organization devoted to scuba diving.

LeRoy passed in 2007 while writing his autobiography. His design accomplished will always play a role in design history today and his contributions to his community opened many doors for Black designers and entrepreneurs.