For this project I had to choose and research a city outside the
US and create a poster advertising the city as an American Airlines
destination. Other than the measurements and its digital format the manner of
completing the project was left open-ended. Immediately Stockholm came to mind
as an option. Sweden is known for a clean, modern, and minimalist aesthetic
(think IKEA). Yet its capital is one steeped in rich history and medieval architecture.
Gamla stan, or “The Old Town” is an entirely picturesque environment dating
back to the 13 th century filled with cobblestone streets. The entire
city is situated across the islands of the Swedish Archipelago allowing for scenic
views of the many surrounding harbors. My love of both history and the sea made
Stockholm just too good to pass up.
When visualizing Stockholm the style of the architecture and harbor really set
the mood and I drew my poster’s scenic view from a photograph (explaining the
peculiar shape of the trees, they really are trimmed into that shape!). The
colors were inspired by traditional Swedish house colors, in particular the
residences along the edges of the Stortorget, “The Great Square” in Old Town
Stockholm. These colors all contributed to a feeling of the warmth and beauty of
autumn and I sought to create a depiction of Stockholm under autumn’s lens. The
underlying subtle textures represent the stucco of these medieval buildings and
the many rich textures to explore like the cobblestone streets. The bold
caption and sub-caption would have strong legibility from a distance as the
poster format requires but the choice of san-serif is intentional to keep in mind
clean Swedish modernism has its place as well.
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