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| Evolution of an event poster: from napkin concept, through steps of revisions. |
In
mid-March, I was asked to develop a new design for the Library's 2012
Juneteenth event. The librarian in charge wanted to have a concept in
hand for a planning meeting she would be attending in mid-April, so I
got to work.
I
first looked over my last year's design to see what, if any design
elements I might want to keep or avoid, then took a quick look around
online for inspiration and to make sure I wouldn't come up with the
exact same solution another person had used. My previous year's
poster design incorporated a lot of text on it and I was willing to
bet this year's would follow suit, so I kept in mind chances were
good that whatever art I used would most likely have little room to
compete with all the required language.
I
decided that I wanted to keep the Juneteenth symbol, star, and its
colours, of red, white, and blue. I also decided that since I used a
historical image for last year's event, I should consider doing
something more modern this time around. This led me to lean toward
using bold, graphic elements and flat colour treatments.
I
also wanted the imagery to connect on a more immediate, personal
level than last year's did, so I considered using the human head as a
backdrop. Due to its more round shape, I reconsidered that, and opted
instead to use an outstretched arm, free of any chains, as if rising
up toward the sun (or star in this case). Then I thought maybe the
star could be IN the palm of the hand, as if it had finally caught
the star (the promise). I liked that connotation and thought it would
make for a strong visual, so I worked in that direction.
Also,
if I worked out the proportions well enough, the arm could contain
all of the text. Or, the text could even BE the arm. Looking at last
year's poster as a guide to what text would be required, I sketched
out a potential way I could make text as an arm happen. The resulting
image is my "napkin art" concept.
I
liked what I saw, so I thought I'd explore the possibility of the
solution. I sourced for arms and hands both online and in my archive
of images. After a little hunting, I found a few I thought I could
use as a pattern to draw a new arm/hand from.
Working
on the layout, I placed the main visuals in place and continued to
modify them as I added text, squeezing and massaging everything into
place. The result was the following image which I submitted to the
librarian for consideration.
She
liked it, but asked if I could modify it to include two arms. I
thought it might get crowded and cause me to need to reduce the
original arm, but once I got into the revision I realized both arms
didn't have to be the same size, and that by reducing the size of the
second arm/hand, it would provide for a sense of perspective.
I
thought the end result didn't diminish the power of the first arm and
actually added more visual appeal it.
On
the next edit pass, she asked for some text changes and to take away
one of the two hands and make the remaining one holding a Juneteenth
flag. "Well, here we are back to the literal" I thought, as
I got to work. I didn't care to spend my time scouring the web for a
hand holding a small flag exactly as I wanted it, so I simply took
out my phone and snapped two shots of my own hand. It didn't matter
what the actual photo looked like, only that the hand had the right
shape. I would only be using the photo as a template to draw a
silhouette of my hand. Once that was done, I replaced the existing
arm/hand with the new arm/hand/flag. The new text was laid into
place, but I didn't fuss with it too much because I knew it would
change again. I sent it off and waited.
All
of May passed until the 31st. I wondered where my edits were and sent
off a message reminding the librarian that Juneteenth was only about
two weeks away, and that if she was going to promote it in a timely
fashion, she'd better wake up and send me any edits she had or
approve what was already there. She sent in a revised list of
entertainers. I reworked the arrangement of text so that it wouldn't
be placed in a cascading fashion inside the arm because I didn't like
the organization of text in that manner. Eventually, I was happiest
to make a swap between location of the text and logos. With that
finally in order, I sent the revision back to the librarian.
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| The final design applied to a variety of collaterals. |
In
her print confirmation email, however, she also requested printing of handbills...an item she hadn't requested until now. I let her
know only a flyer was designed and sent the prints off to her. She
replied to ask for 125 handbills, and while she was at it, she
requested an 11x17 inch poster too (basically, an enlargement of the flyer design).
Despite the poor planning and request, each was easy to create,
print, and ship within a short while.
A day or two later, another librarian related to the organizing of the Juneteenth event came by my office to laminate some staff ID badges he had made himself. He asked me about the collaterals that had been ordered to find out how many handbills and signs had been requested. He was surprised that only 125 handbills were ordered and that the single 11x17 inch sign should have been a about four 23x34 inch large format posters. He said he'd follow up with the first librarian to find out if additional items should be requested. I assured him that I'd be here, waiting...hopefully for more than one request at a time.
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| Additional 23x34 inch large format posters were created to display at the event. |
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