In the project brief, we were given a client in the A-State theater department to design a theater poster for them. We were instructed to meet with the clients and determine a plan of action. We shared ideas bad and forth and went through different stages of critiques and changes. They wanted us to focus on the plant that the main character, Mama is determined to keep alive throughout the story. 

I chose to focus on a warm color palette to tie into the feel of the overall play and to hint at the fact that Mama thought of the plant as her light in the midst of dark. I wanted to anchor the tree/plant into the text at the bottom of the composition to symbolize how important planting roots and staying firm in one place is to the characters. The story is set in the 1950's in Chicago. During this time in history, African-Americans were not allowed to have the things that white's could have and they were not treated equally. So when the family moves into a white neighborhood, everything falls apart. I wanted to show the white picket fence and then show the stark contrast of the red tree to represents the discrimination and segregation. 

I changed a few things after the Work in Progress critique, I lightened the yellow of the background because it was printing too muddy. I felt like it was too plain in the background so I added the city skyline to add depth to it. I went through many different tries before I came to this tree. I wanted to show leaves growing, because I didn't want to depict the plant as dead, but not entirely thriving either. 

Through this project, I learned how to better communicate with clients and to do so effectively. We had to work quickly and diligently to finish this project for another group to meet their deadlines. I also learned more about basic illustrations and understanding how to interpret an entire play into one poster.