Second Annual Zombies in the Library Event

The 8.5x11 inch promotional sign.

On October 26, the Tower Road library branch held its second annual Zombies in the Library event. It was a fun time for youths to come dressed in costume, learn the "Thriller" dance from members of the Gainesville dance club, Danscompany of Gainesville, and to enjoy a variety of Halloween activities and snacks.

Promotional materials included a new poster, handbill, and web banner design that featured a few zombies. I combined a popular zombie clip art with a public domain photo that showed a close-up of a green, soupy mix--pea soup, in fact, I believe it was. It gave the design a nice, textured background to liven up the black/white clip art. I added a spotlight effect to the background to create a little more dimension and depth to it, then combined it with the zombies clip art. I also searched online for some free scary fonts, downloaded a few to try out, then used my favourite consistently on each of the collateral designs.

Once done, I emailed proofs to the librarian. She replied the next day to say that at first she was concerned the art might be too frightening to children, but after showing them to other staff members who said "no--they are great!" she was convinced that she must simply be a wimp, and happily approved them. I was pleased, and was certain the eye-catching design would serve her well.

Top: web banner. Bottom, 8.5x11 inch page prior to trimming into quarter-page handbills.

Total promotional items used:

12x 8.5x11 inch signs

100x quarter-page handbills

1x web banner