So I decided to go for the promotional design. It’s the most interesting one for me. I like the 70’s theme and I get to be really creative over the design, images and I can choose what info I include. So long as it has the 70’s theme running through it.
So I start as I have before by writing out in full what it is exactly I need to do. I start with some keywords too but realise I need to research the play to get a better feel for some more keywords that are relevant to the design.
With regard to info I decide I need to list up all the information that I could possible want or need on the promotional material. I know I need:
Dates
Times
Places
Actors Names
But I need to know what other information I might require.
I look at other promotional theatre flyers online for more insight and to increase the size of my list.
UPDATE JANUARY 2016
So in May I went back to work locally and have ended up working more hours than I would have liked – I also moved house in September and then my computer broke and I had to get all of my work backed up but when my computer came back it was really broken! So i’m working on a laptop on loan while my PC is with john lewis being fixed. It has been hectic to say the least! Everything has been pointing to me not completing this unit but I am determined that I will! I did some sketchbook work and took some imagery on this assignment just before I moved house but haven’t really cracked it well so intend on getting this assignment completed this week so that my tutor can look at it on the 15th. I then have to crack on and get my other work assessment ready and with the OCA before the 1st February. Sadly i’m going to have to submit it all digitally but I will be sending my notebooks and some of my work that I printed via trial and error etc as it would be such a shame to have wasted the past year and a half and all of the progress I have made. Anyhow! Onwards and upwards.
Here is the sketchbook work I carried out:
Page 1
Little bit of a run down on the play itself following some research on Wikipedia and watching some clips online. Notice how straight away I am drawn to the orange 70’s theme. Looking back at it I do need to contrast this with something it cant be all orange…or can it?
Page 2
I started to mind map some words to try and get some imagery down. Do I go down the typographic route or an imagery route – or both? Is there a specific date or number I could display that relates to the show. I like the checkerboard dancefloor in browns and oranges. I like the cigarette and smoke…’just a top up’ seems to be a noticeable tag line in the show I could display this. Cheese on sticks is also a favourite.
Page3
I start playing with some pictures and sketching some things I like. I do like abstract, it’s not very 70’s I suppose but I could make it look 70’s with the feel of the colour. I am really drawn to beverlys eyes. She seems like a bit of a deranged woman in the play!
Page 4
I spilt my water on the paper…..but actually it might have been a happy mistake! I like the grungy look of it. Maybe I could incorporate that somewhere. I start to play with ideas and layouts of different images. 70’s lampshades, cheese sticks, cigarettes and glaring eyes. They all seem to be things pointing to the play so I decide I definitely want to work with these but how.
IMAGES
I start to work with cheese on stick and experiment taking my own pictures….this is with a glass cut dish, a bit 70’s and some chiffony material I have in a peachy colour. The brief is it keep a 70’s feel to it.
I then experimented with a couple of my favourite images with colour and black and white.
I decide to take a break from the cheese and look for some other ideas. Before doing that I also want to get in my head exactly what info I need and how I can break it down. I start to look at other 70’s posters for some inspiration. I really like the 70’s style type. I need to decide on type. Should I do a whole type poster? I think about what is actually happening in the play. They party is actually over the road and I picture someone looking out of their window and actually seeing the party in action. I also like drawaing in illustrator and playing around so I decide to give it a go and see what my idea might look like.
You can see how I progressed though the design – firstly getting the basic house design done, then adding a little depth and trying to figure out the text. It’s okay, but i’m not in love with it. It would be a shame to waste my cheese stick images as I spent quote a bit of time on them so I go back to that.
I added various bits as I went through it but I really like this design. It’s very retro looking and I kept the text simple so it’s all about the picture. I realised a few bits were missing and these were my final designs. I like the quote by Alison Steadman. It was then fairly easy to create the other designs. I knew what information was important and what wasn’t for each of the designs, for example, the programme cover didn’t need the breakdown of venues on the front and the advert needed to have a very standout element in it like the block of colour, but not so much that it looked completely different to all the other designs. Here are my final designs one after the other followed by PDFs. I am very pleased with them and would be happy to submit them to the customer. I feel I have kept to the brief and made sure there was a 70’s feel to them.
A3 Poster
Double Sided A5 Landscape Flyer
A5 Programme Cover
A6 Advert Design