I recently created an event poster for a client looking to promote an art show. This post talks a little bit about the show, the process, and the finished result.
The Show
The He(art) Show is an event sponsored by STAND, A Student Run Anti-Genocide Coalition, and the student division of Genocide Intervention Network, to help spread awareness of human rights and genocide around the world. It includes art, music, dance, and speakers to help give the audience a holistic understanding of the pain and suffering that exists—to move people to act. The event will take place this Friday (March 25th, 2011), to learn more check out the event information.
The Process
First, let me say, that one of the greatest things about working on this project was that the client didn’t have a specific way they wanted to poster to look—they trusted my vision to create something good—which is always exciting for me.
I began putting ideas together by look at work in the show, at pictures of genocide, and the kind of work these organizations were doing. As I was looking, I knew that I wanted something bold and graphic, something like screen printing, or cut paper—hard edges, angular. I found two pieces that really inspired me, one was illustrative typography—a fist created by the letters in ‘power’.
The other was a piece created by Keith Herring. Both of these images had the kind of bold, graphic aesthetic I was looking for.
For imagery, I decided I wanted to do hands in the air, almost like a mix between an open hand and a fist. I wanted to convey a sense of power, yet softness and compassion. I staggered the arms to create a more dynamic composition, and the negative space between the arms helps draw the eyes down to the sponsor information. The heart motif is a simple graphic that helps people remember the name of the show, and also helps emphasis the purpose of the show. Lastly, I added a white border to help compensate for not printing-full bleed—to hide that annoying little off-center white border that would’ve been there. Below is the completed poster, click to view it full-size.
