For my latest project, I have been working on a gig poster. The path I took to get to my final draft was as long and windy as the path my final draft depicts. I had a hard time coming up with an illustration that represents a genre of music, so I decided to choose a song and use that as inspiration to create my poster. In the end, I believe I was able to design a poster that portrays the mood of M83's, Wait, from their album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.
These are a few of my sketches throughout the gig poster process. My first few sketches included a girl in front of a sea monster. I drew variations of what the girl would be wearing, how her clothes would look in the wind, different hair styles, etc. I also sketched numerous waves and sea monsters. However, half way through this project I decided to change my composition. I needed to go back to the drawing board to figure out how the woman in my poster would become more dynamic, rather than a straight, fixed character.
Draft One: While coming up with my first draft, I was focused on including some sort of juxtaposition. I was also using Florence and the Machine's song, Shake It Out, to inspire my gig poster; one girl, going to face the monster that has plagued her for so long. However, I became aware of how straight and one dimensional my character looked, which led me to rethink my entire composition.
Draft Two and Three: For my second and third drafts, I completely altered the mood of my gig poster. This is because I decided to use M83 and Odesza as models of how I wanted the vibe of my project to be portrayed. I narrowed my song choices down to Wait, by M83's, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming album, and Odesza's, Higher Ground, from their album, A Moment Apart. I also used Odesza's color palette of that same album as inspiration for my gig poster. I realized quickly that I needed to get rid of all of the Gaussian Blur since this would ultimately become a print. I changed all shadows and highlights to halftones, but with some more feedback, I came to realize that instead of helping my poster, it was hindering it, which I altered for my final draft. I also sat down, turned off all the lights, and listened to those two songs on repeat to discover any elements I should add or eliminate, based off of the emotions these songs made me feel. That is why in the third draft, I added another person.
Finally, after two short weeks, I finished with this draft as my final design. I am much happier with how this final version turned out compared to the first draft. It's very rewarding to see improvement in such a short amount of time. I believe I was able to capture the mood that M83 and Odesza exudes from their songs. One of the biggest reasons why I added a man to this poster is because in the song Wait, at the minute 4:10, M83 has vocals that sound like echos, but there are clearly two very different echos being sung. One is a higher pitch and the other is a lower pitch. This inspired me to create another character. I also believe that my poster reflects Wait accurately, because of the lyrics.
"There's no end, there is no goodbye
Disappear with the night"
Disappear with the night"
I interpreted "there's no end" with the never-ending night sky. "Disappear with the night" makes me think of two people leaving together in the dead of night. Due to the inspiration of both artists, I titled this gig poster in tribute to both of their albums.
I would love to know your thoughts about my song choices and how well they relate to my gig poster. If you have other song choices that would compliment this mood, I would greatly consider them!
