Dylan Spencer-Davidson on his promotional artwork for Good For You

1) Where did your inspiration for the poster come from?

The main (and sadly quite obvious) inspiration was the Tilda Swinton I Am Love poster that was in cinemas at the time. I didn't really want it to end up looking like such a blatant rip-off: the text was initially meant to be a different colour and typeface, but everyone ended up preferring the pink Helvetica font.

2) Who was your target audience, and how did you tailor your artwork to their interests?

The poster was used in Cambridge and Edinburgh, as well as on UK and US tours, so it had to work for a rather broad audience. The main concern was to not make it look goofy, like a lot of Cambridge comedy posters in the past. We all wanted something a bit subtler and Wes-Andersony.

3) How do computer-generated images and/or text work alongside other media in your design?

It's made using a full-bleed photo in the background, which we shot on the ADC stage in front of whatever props happened to be there (in fact, I think the set design was later adapted to fit what we had on the poster).

4) How did you juggle art and the needs of marketing in this poster?

This was actually one of the most difficult posters in terms of finding a compromise between my own ideas and those of the actors, producers and directors. There were a few ideas that I wasn’t allowed to go through with: my favourite was having the two ‘o’s in Footlights over Ellie’s eyes, to make her look like she was wearing glasses. I thought that was quite LOL, but I think it works without it as well; it’s just even more deadpan.

5) Name one event you would love to design the publicity artwork for.

Anything for Wes Anderson, although I could never beat his brother's covers for the criterion collection DVDs.

Edward Quekett on his promotional artwork for The Study of Young Men

1) Where did your inspiration for the poster come from?

The artwork for this poster is actually quite different from how initially imagined it. The first thought was an image of a greater complexity, drawing ideas of representation from the relationships between the four characters. In this, their poses, expressions, positions, and even the objects they were surrounded by, had some meaning within the context of the play – though I shan't go into those details here, particularly as the finished version is so minimal! At any rate, I wasn't able to execute that first idea due to limitations of time.

Originally planned as a detailed photograph, the poster evolved into what it is: a drawing following the features of the principal (Anthony, centre right) and merely outlining the other characters (Jonah, Rob, and Charlie – from left to right). Though perhaps not what one might expect, it fits the character of the show: Jonah, Rob, and Charlie are what Anthony remembers of them, rather than being the people themselves. The narrative and plot of The Study of Young Men revolves around Anthony's memories, and how these memories of old friends come to life around him as he tries to recollect past experience; it’s fitting that they aren’t totally detailed. Memory can only supply part of the story: in this case, just the outline of those gone.

2) Who was your target audience, and how did you tailor your artwork to their interests?

I believe the target audience of this show will be primarily students, though I'm sure neither the cast, nor the crew, would want to restrict the viewing audience! It might be a bit presumptuous, but I think that townsfolk would be less attracted to it, simply because it is new writing and as such doesn’t have a known writer attached to it, though I could be totally mistaken. The poster, however, attempts to reach its audience by being a bit different. Publicising a show at the beginning of term is a mixed blessing: you're likely to be one of not so many shows already advertising, so may be more noticed (especially because of the large white/off-white expanse of the poster), but the short time to get the publicity machine rolling can have a negative impact.

The poster for this show, then, is only one part of a larger project: the creative team has produced Facebook profiles of the characters to get the name out there before people even get back to Cambridge and can see the hard copies. For a show so early in the term, internet marketing, particularly through social media, is a necessity.

3) How do computer-generated images and/or text work alongside other media in your design?

Particularly in this poster, mixed media plays a large role: the artwork is in ‘analogue’ (i.e. drawn) and the typography is digital. Though I admit I toyed with the idea of doing the text by hand, but figured that time constraints and ease of working digitally with type outweighed its benefit in this instance. Typography produced by hand, however, can differ considerably in style from digital typography. Whilst in some cases I would let that slip, I was not going to let that happen here. My issue was that purely digital type is vector (artwork that is scalable without loss of quality), but those hard and crisp edges stand out sorely on the rougher hand drawn stuff. So some blending has to be done, usually a combination of multiple layers and some considered blurring to make a more unified piece.

4) How did you juggle art and the needs of marketing in this poster?

I started the poster with no clear idea about marketing, if one means the positioning of title, venue, and times. On the other hand, in the revised version I had a clear idea from the outset how all the typography was going to be arranged around the artwork that I’d planned in my head. The needs of the two, at least with this poster, were not conflicting: I wasn't trying to arrange type on an image that wasn't, well, 'type ready'. Though, sometimes, a less planned image can make for a more interesting and challenging layout composition, fitting all of the necessary data in the limited clear space available on the picture.

5) Name one event you would love to design the publicity artwork for.

One event, that's a good one. I could think of several if we were to confine it to Cambridge alone, namely, some of the larger May Balls. Not just because you could potentially secure tickets in that manner (!), but also a larger budget could give more scope for creativity within the printing process: using letterpress or litho printing, for instance. But yes, though May Balls could give you hell for doing them, I think the reward of seeing your work up with something that big is great. Or Scott Pilgrim. That film is awesome.

Julia Lichnova on her promotional artwork for Be My Baby

1) Where did your inspiration for the poster come from?

From the play itself: the clash of thematic ideas and colours it presents. The Barbie-pink, happy middle-class bubble of a world as experienced by a teenage girl in the 60s, generated by the values of a traditionalist society and summery, girl-group pop; and the grim, grey world of reality that she is confronted by in the mother-baby home.

2) Who was your target audience, and how did you tailor your artwork to their interests?

Cambridge students. Since the poster was portraying this strange theme/colour clash, our audience wasn’t fans of the Ronnettes or Shangri-Las or anything: simply anyone intrigued by the contrast of the ideas.

3) How do computer-generated images and/or text work alongside other media in your design?

This poster is almost entirely computer-generated. The girl is drawn in digital watercolour to make the vivid, pastel colours look glossy and plastic and to make them pop out from the grey background. The walls are built up from several texture scans, so that their grit forms a contrast to the girl’s smooth colours. The cracks are taken from photographs or drawn on digitally, and the floor is taken from several images of pebbles which then had their perspective modified. We thought the text needed to be harsh and textured, as if it had been stamped forcefully onto the poster, almost branding it. Ultimately we wanted to underline the ‘reality’ aspect of the play, rather than the bubble-gum, sugary pop aspect.

4) How did you juggle art and the needs of marketing in this poster?

I think designers must first look at the idea and then find a way of presenting it that makes best use of their skills and interests at the time. I wanted to paint in digital watercolours again and this was the perfect opportunity; the girl took me about 14 hours to draw, which was a nice artistic exercise. I could have taken a photograph for this poster, which may have been easier, but I wanted to make it stand out by drawing elements of it digitally, which is unusual for theatre posters in Cambridge, and also fun for me. The needs of marketing are decided and definitely come first; the ‘needs’ of art can be anything you make them.

5) Name one event you would love to design the publicity artwork for.

I would love to design band artwork: posters, covers, publicity. Great music posters reflect the fact that working with music allows for a great freedom of design, including very abstract designs; it would also be a great opportunity to meet talented musicians, who are often also interesting people. I am also very interested in book design. Book covers are a sort of publicity similar to theatre posters, since these often work with stories, but they are more physical and lasting, allowing for more independent thinking and cleaner designs.

 

Chrystal Ding on her promotional artwork for Now, Now

1) Where did your inspiration for the poster come from?

The comedians themselves. I never arrive at a photo shoot with an image in mind, since that would be recreating rather than creating something. If you have something in mind already then you stop looking out for possibilities; there are always going to be so many with such an unpredictable bunch of people. I knew that watches and time might be vaguely relevant, so tried variations on that theme in as many ways as they would oblige me – and they happened to be wonderfully obliging – keeping my eyes open for anything particularly striking. But perhaps it just comes down to a terrible pun: clocks have faces, people have faces. I suspect more people here have a soft spot for puns than would be willing to admit.

2) Who was your target audience, and how did you tailor your artwork to their interests?

Anyone with a sense of humour and the physical ability to laugh. But also anyone who might recognise any of the faces in the poster. This was never going to be a thing of cinematic beauty or conceptual excellence (no matter how good-looking the subjects). It was about six funny people that would make people laugh.

3) How do computer-generated images and/or text work alongside other media in your design?

I always anchor my designs in photography, since I'm a photographer who just happened to fall into design. Everything slots in around the photograph. I might edit a picture beyond all recognition but I don't computer-generate from scratch unless I absolutely have to (that said, I felt it might be necessary to give George Potts a head since some people might find a headless body quite distasteful). The picture dictates where the text goes. I fit it into the negative space.

4) How did you juggle art and the needs of marketing in this poster?

I tend to suspend 'art' when doing publicity design because I'm aware from the outset that the point of a poster is marketing. I'll let artistic instincts dictate what happens in the photo shoot (though sometimes it is just funny to fit six comedians in a tiny cupboard and keep them there for a few minutes and watch them squirm). The minute the pictures are uploaded onto my laptop and I open Photoshop, however, marketing mindset takes over. Recognisable identities were important in this poster, so the faces had to take up a lot of the poster space.

5) Name one event you would love to design the publicity artwork for.

Not really an event as such, but one day I was discussing with a friend the possibility of coming up with a completely ludicrous design for an imaginary show and plastering it around Cambridge with a time, date and all the publicity trimmings just to see how people would respond. Is it possible to pull in a crowd for something non-existent? It's called Rape Slugs Minstrels and will feature zero to three of the aforementioned components. You should come.

 

Rebecca Pitt on her promotional artwork for Much Ado About Nothing

1) Where did your inspiration for the poster come from?

My inspiration came firstly from the setup at the beginning of the story (two potential lovers who aren't quite seeing eye to eye) and also from the brief given to me by the director and producer.  They wanted me to involve oranges in some way, and to make it bright, warm and fun.

2) Who was your target audience, and how did you tailor your artwork to their interests?

As this is an Arts Theatre show, the target audience is broader than just the student community. I couldn’t be too risquée as it needs to appeal to a fairly conservative audience, as well as school groups. With Shakespeare, I think it’s important that the potential audience members (most of whom aren’t English students) can feel like they know the play. It was better to use a simple image of Beatrice and Benedick facing opposite ways, which would be easily recognisable from a basic knowledge of Much Ado About Nothing. A more perplexing image might put people off: if they can’t understand the image in the poster, they might feel that it’s unlikely they would understand the narrative.

3) How do computer-generated images and/or text work alongside other media in your design?

Everything in this poster is computer generated from scratch, although it is based on some initial sketches. It was important to me to involve the main text (i.e. the title) in the image from an early stage so that it's really part of the image rather than a hasty and necessary afterthought.

4) How did you juggle art and the needs of marketing in this poster?

The needs of advertising the show which I have already mentioned are what led me to choose the simple image of Beatrice and Benedick. The 'art' comes in with the execution of it, choice of style, media etc. I knew that bright colours were important to make the show look friendly and accessible, but the concentric circles in the sky are more of an artistic, decorative decision. From an artistic point of view, a poster design usually needs to be adaptable for different formats (such as the landscape Sidney Street banner), so this was a consideration too.

5) Name one event you would love to design the publicity artwork for.

Probably some sort of design/art exhibition which might allow me to push artistic boundaries a little further than more mainstream events.

Oliver Rees on his promotional artwork for the exhibition When I Grow Up

1) Where did your inspiration for the poster come from?

I wanted to do something really simple using a contribution from the When I Grow Up project. Looking through all the responses I thought that the picture of this girl was really bold and had elements of the boring/exciting things about growing up.

2) Who was your target audience, and how did you tailor your artwork to their interests?

I wanted to appeal to as many people as possible and I think that the simplicity of the poster and the use of Helvetica means that it is easy to see from far away. This was particularly effective as I put lots of them in The Shop window for passers by to see.

3) How do computer-generated images and/or text work alongside other media in your design?

I scanned the photo of the girl and then put the text on top. The fact that the text is white and eats into the youthful image could potentially have a 'deep' message about youth being eroded by type/offices/forms/grown ups. It doesn't though.

4) How did you juggle art and the needs of marketing in this poster?

I guess art and marketing don't really have to be separate, and so don't always have to be juggled. I probably prefer the image with the marketing info on it as it sort of frames the image.

5) Name one event you would love to design the publicity artwork for.

Anything where you get a lot of freedom, and where your work will be seen by lots of people. (And isn't really cringe).

 

Francesca Balestrieri on her promotional artwork for Journey’s End

1) Where did your inspiration for the poster come from?

The production team gave me an image of a painting by Katie Alcock, as an example of the style and effects they had in mind. I took inspiration from that, and from some old photos portraying soldiers in the First World War.

2) Who was your target audience, and how did you tailor your artwork to their interests?

The target audience included people from a wide range of demographics and backgrounds. Consequently the poster needed to be both general enough to catch the attention of different viewers, and specific about the ideas and scope of Journey’s End. It was clear that the final picture had to contain key symbols which connected directly to the subject and historical context of the play.

The symbolism of the poster is unambiguous and easily understood for two reasons:

Firstly, to enable an immediate visual interpretation about the character of the play and the themes involved in it. Hence the representation of a soldier (connections with war) in a field of poppies (connections with the specific historical moment of the First World War).

Secondly, to encourage the viewer’s emotional involvement in the concept of war and its implications. Clear and familiar images often achieve this most effectively, because of their cultural context and imbedded connotations. In this poster the ghostly soldier is solitary and faceless, thus permitting the identification of the individual with the featureless shape. He is marching in solitude towards a horizon whose greyness and whiteness evoke a strong sense of melancholy and death. The field of poppies – a metaphor for the blood of the almost numberless soldiers killed in a war that renders them unidentifiable – seems like a sea of motion and disquiet in which the soldier drowns. Indeed the image is so archetypical that many levels of meaning can be given to it.

3) How do computer-generated images and/or text work alongside other media in your design?

I heavily modified the basic visual traits of the painting I was given, and created new elements using image editing software. In order not to distract the viewer too much from the image, I have used a fairly basic font for the title and the information, on the basis that most people’s memories retain visual information more easily and accurately than than text information.

4) How did you juggle art and the needs of marketing in this poster?

Making an aesthetically pleasant image has been my main concern while working on this project, since I believe the main purpose of a poster is to attract attention by visual means (and this is all it can do to increase ticket sales, speaking with marketing-like cynicism).

It would be intellectually dishonest to call my work art, though, since the purpose of the poster is to create a connection between an image and the play – the image is secondary, it is a means to an end. I would compare my work more to 'gastronomic art', fulfillling certain stereotypes and expectations in an agreeable way.

5) Name one event you would love to design the publicity artwork for.

Doing the publicity artwork for a production of an opera with evocative elements, such as, for example, Die Zauberflöte or Die Entführung aus dem Serail by W.A. Mozart, would be an interesting experience.