I illustrated and designed a theatre poster, event postcard and program cover for Plosive Productions' 2020 Halloween show to promote the show and ticket sales. Later, I recreated the poster and implemented augmented reality to bring it to life.
Plosive Productions' 2020 Halloween production was inspired by horror-themed radio shows of the 1940s, featuring 3 stories from the era.
As a part of my graphic design class, my peers and I were to design our own promotional posters and the director would choose their favourite to promote their upcoming show, as well as a matching programme cover and event postcard. The director requested that a Shure 55 SH microphone be incorporated into the design.
Originally I was inspired by more realistic illustrations inspired by 1940s horror movie posters, but I felt the concepts lacked impact. After more inspirational research, I moved towards a minimal, abstract direction and listened to the radio shows in full for more understanding.
I came up with the final concept while sketching with digital watercolour brushes to capture the feeling of paint. The illustration incorporates elements and concepts from all three radio shows in the production as well as the Shure microphone that was requested by the director.
My design was ultimately the one the director decided to move forward with to promote the production. However, due to the pandemic, the event was cancelled.
With my upgraded skills and knowledge, I redesigned the poster to make it more visually interesting while keeping the original concept. To make the poster feel more like a vintage, hand-painted horror poster I redrew the elements and title in Procreate. A grid was utilized to improve the alignment and consistency.
The illustration combines elements and concepts from all 3 stories included in the show. The consistent use of the red-colour and the shape of the design draw the viewer’s eyes from the top to the bottom of the poster, guiding them to the details of the show.
The colour palette is inspired by trending colours from the 1940s and the horror genre. Bright red was used to capture the viewer’s attention, paired with a dark navy blue background for contrast. The majority of the text is light beige to give a weathered, vintage look.
The title was drawn digitally using a rough, comic-style typeface as a guide with some variation to make it more unique. The rest of the type is set in a reverse-contrast sans-serif font that grabs the viewer's interest and provides a wood-block inspired, handcrafted look that compliments the textures used throughout the illustration.
Using After Effects and Artivive, I brought the poster to life with an augmented reality animation to create a more engaging and memorable experience for viewers.
Reach out and connect to see what I can do for you. Or, if you can’t get enough, view more of my works.
