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Press ↗ ↘ Work ↗ Publishing ↖ Design 🌀 NYC 🌀 ATL 🌀
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Recent posts
How Parallel Press is cataloguing Black history through indie books, graphic design and space travel
Founders of @Parall.e.l Press, Akoua Smith and renald Louissaint joined us on the Nicer Tuesdays stage in New York City to talk about how Parallel Press started up, its major projects and its newest publication Astro Black. This homage to Black astronauts is more than just an archive of boundary-pushing astrophysics, space travel technology and the people behind our most daring missions into the solar system, but a crucial protection of the archival materials from the Trump administration. Watch the full Nicer Tuesdays talk through the link in our bio. #ItsNiceThat
19 Oct 2026
Sharing a recent project that we’re really proud of and has spanned the transition of starting production in our LA studio and finishing in our Mendocino studio: Astro Black by @parall.e.l (@akouaaa_ and @renald.l ). Printed and bound by us.
Astro Black is the first book that catalogs the story of the 18 black astronauts, pilots, scientists and engineers who embarked on journeys into space with NASA to serve their country. This book archives their individual stories and the relationship of Black Americans and space through photos, essays, flight data and a rigorous index. Readers will be taken on a journey that showcases the historical and cultural significance that African Americans have made to human space travel.
336 pages, smyth sewn, casebound. The handmade edition of 50 is sold out. Thank you to Akoua and Renald for this opportunity.
03 Sep 2026
Our talk at Nicer Tuesdays is now live on youtube where we discuss the origins of our studio practice and share background info on how Astro Black came to be.
We’ve also had the distinct pleasure of having Astro Black be featured in a follow up article on @itsnicethat where the two of us speak on the design in a bit more depth.
Huge thank you to the editorial team for being such big supporters of our studio throughout its infancy.
Special thanks are in order to @elizabeth_goodspeed @jennysbrewer @liviaharper and Paul Moore.
Links to both the talk and article are in the bio 🌀🚀
22 Jul 2026
3 years in the making.
Limited edition of 50.
Pre-order on July 4th.
Astro Black is the first book that catalogs the story of the 18 black astronauts, pilots, scientists and engineers who embarked on journeys into space with NASA to serve their country. This book archives their individual stories and the relationship of Black Americans and space through photos, essays, flight data and a rigorous index. Readers will be taken on a journey that showcases the historical and cultural significance that African Americans have made to human space travel.
👨🏾🚀💫👩🏾🚀🚀✨
We’re very proud to bring this book to life. Our intent was to make it immediately available on July 4th, but we still have some small kinks to work out with packaging, so we’ve shifted to a pre-order and should be able to send out within the next 2 weeks. Small business is anything but.
We want to thank our contributors for their patience and dedication to this project. This book acts as a love letter to those Black individuals who dare to achieve the impossible.
Credits
~
Published by Parallel Press
Contributors:
Sabrina Thompson / @nefertitipokahontas
Janelle Wellons / @itsjanellie
Editor:
Taryn Finley / @_tarynitup
Fact Checker:
Shonitria Anthony / @shonitria
Copy Editors:
Sydney Allen-Ash / @from_syd
Shonitria Anthony / @shonitria
Research:
Akoua Smith / @akouaaa_
Taryn Finley / @_tarynitup
Art Direction:
Parallel Work / @parall.e.l
Design:
Akoua Smith / @akouaaa_
renald Louissaint / @renald.l
Steven Horton Jr. / @stevenhortonjr
Photography:
NASA / @nasa
Printing & Binding:
Matthew Austin / @forthebirdstrappedinairports
Product Photography:
Lamon Bethel / @lamonenigma
Jhalin Knowles / @jhalinknowles
~
Last slide shows a preview of the aluminum slip case we’re designing in the background. More on that later. 🌀🖖🏾
03 Jul 2026
“Astro Black” is the first book to catalog the stories of the 18 Black astronauts, pilots, scientists, and engineers who helped shape the history of space exploration. The book brings together archival photography, personal essays, flight data, interviews, and research to explore the relationship between Black Americans and space. The design leans into space-age futurism, pulling from the textures, materials, and finishes of the orbiters. All images and documents were sourced from the National Archives Catalog and the NASA Image & Video Library, to preserve this important history at a moment when the future of federal programs and public archives feels increasingly uncertain.
“Astro Black” launches on July 4th via @parall.e.l
#ssscans
26 Jun 2026
Our first index, Astro Black, will be available July 4.
Exclusively on shop.pll.work 💫
26 Jun 2026
💫 join us next week for the next installment of Nicer Tuesdays by @itsnicethat
we’ll be sharing info on our next book launch “Astro Black”, releasing this summer 👨🏾🚀🚀
June 2, 6:30–9PM
SVA Theatre
333 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
Tickets in the bio 🌀
27 May 2026
🌀 congratulations are in order to our co-founder @renald.l on being named a FINALIST for Young Guns 23!
thank you to the jury and @theoneclubforcreativity for this incredible honor 🙌🏾✨
23 Oct 2025
The Program, Vol. 3 for @springhill
Thanks LeBron 🫶🏾✨
Editor-in-Chief: Krystyn Price Harrell (@kpeezie)
Managing Editor: Chelsea Carr
Contributing Editor: Joey Bada$$ (@joeybadass)
Creative Direction: Chris James, Carissa Romain (@carissaromain)
Senior Editor: Jaylin Paschal
Design: Parallel Work (@parall.e.l) ✌🏾😜
Talent Producer: Kasia Sawicz
Project Managers: Caylee Drangel, Bailey Hartman
Cover Art: Jewel Ham (@whateverjewel)
Cover Photo: Brad Farwell
Product Photos: Alister Kruizenga (@alisterkruizenga)
23 Sep 2025
Another special moment in the books. Thank you to everyone who showed up and showed love—even in the heat.
Grateful for our friends at Printed Matter and Maivino for helping make it all happen. Stay tuned for what’s next for 𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.
Captured by Danté Maurice (@donteze)
19 Aug 2025
@manners.institute ~ Cohort 03
To Dream in Color
Type + Design: Parallel Work
Illustrations: @nickdahlen_
Photography: @aaronlaserna
Available now at
www.manners.institute
04 Aug 2025
Good Black Art, Parallel Press, and Printed Matter invite you to a special evening celebrating the final stop of the book launch tour for Julian Adon Alexander’s debut monograph, 𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.
Join us for a discussion with artist and illustrator Julian Adon Alexander (@snakebone_), alongside painter Alvin Armstrong—fellow artist, contributor to the book, and longtime supporter of Julian’s practice. Together, they will discuss the book, the expansiveness of their creative practices, and how artists can build and sustain community.
Following the conversation, guests are invited to a reception sponsored by @maivino.
The publication features over 200 small-scale works, primarily graphite on toned paper, created by Julian between 2020 and 2024. The DNA of his drawings is deeply connected to comic books, anime, pop culture, and the internet. Through textured and expressive works, Julian explores complex emotions such as vulnerability, anxiety, and resilience through self-portraits and depictions of real and imagined Black Gen Z figures who feel both accessible and emotionally layered.
In addition to an essay by Alvin Armstrong, the book includes contributions from artist peers and mentors such as Marcos Chin, KAWS, Julian Alexander, and Phillip Collins, offering deeper insight into Julian’s visual language and emotional world.
The event will take place at Printed Matter (231 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10001) on Wednesday, August 13, from 6 to 8 PM.
RSVP via the link in bio.
Images captured by Corey Danieli (@coreydanieli).
29 Jul 2025
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