ASSIGNMENT THREE: 

A Poster 

I have chosen to work with the category 'Pop group'. 

I start my thought process by taking a look at good examples of pop concert posters. I intentionally choose music posters from different eras to compare. 

What strikes me: 

• They are all very different, there is no set style - Individual. 
• The artist does not necessarily appear on the poster, example David Bowie & Johnny Cash, 
• The layout is very different for each. 
• The artist name appears in bold, stand out print on each poster - Important. 

I look through the social media accounts I follow for inspiration or for an angle to approach this assignment with. 

I follow a Birmingham band 'Back in the Band' on Facebook, they have an account they regularly update, and most importantly they have a line up of gigs coming up. 

What if I can contact the band, and work with a forthcoming gig as inspiration? It would be the perfect opportunity to gain a little experience in this field. 

The bands lead singer, Tony O 'Brien was very generous with his time and got in touch with me about his band. I interview him and here is their story in their words: 

"It all started in ST MARTINS YOUTH CLUB which was in Gooch St, Highgate, at around 1969.  I was 17 at the time and was asked by my very good friend John Burdett to audition as the singer for a group he was forming. My audition consisted of me whistling the middle part of the Otis Redding single DOCK OF THE BAY which I did to very good effect and got the job. We were called EXIT a five peace.

Exit consisted of me vocals, John Burdett rhythm guitar, John Lowry bass guitar, Dave Giblin lead guitar, Monny Kazee drums. Exit played the pubs and clubs in and around the Birmingham area playing Rock, Pop and Blues covers for about 4 years before we decided to split up.

John Burdett still playing rhythm guitar and myself then formed a new Band with three new members Peter Brant bass guitar,  Neil Chalmers lead guitar and Tony Rossiter drums.  We called ourselves MATTY after a garage where I worked called MATTY’S MOTORS, located in Lady Well Walk which is in the Birmingham City Centre.

MATTY played in some of the better venues in and around Birmingham and Midlands area e.g., THE INCOGNITO Hurst St, THE RAILWAY INN CURSON ST, BOGARTS NEW ST, THE RAINBOW SUITE COLMORE CIRCUSE, and THE SUTTON PARK CARNIVAL in JUNE 1974, playing Rock pop and Blues.

Including trips to local recording studios ( ZELLA) and (WASP) to put down some original songs of our own onto demo tapes. At around 1978 Matty also split up and we all went our different ways, pursuing different projects with other bands.

At around 2001 John Burdett phoned me and asked if there was any chance of getting a band reunion together for his 50^th Birthday which I managed to do.

So that’s how ‘Back in the Band’ was formed with: - John, Peter, Neil, new drummer Colin Bullock & of course myself.

Well I hope this story has not bored you too much and is of a help to you"

The band in action: 



Brilliant, this is my way in to creating a poster!

Brainstorm: 

As has worked best for me in the past, I separate the words up to help expand my imagination. 

Key points: 

• History
• "Light bulb moment"
• Friendship. 
• Solid

Mood Board: 

I especially like the idea of the band being in the limelight, when they reunited, being back together again must have felt like a "light bulb moment". 

Ideas: 

Stage lamps, light, wall and street sign, mic. Where should the light fall? Is the inclusion of a microphone a little old fashioned and too obvious? 

I go further with the idea of the stage lamps and source professional stage lamps to photograph for reference. Photographed from different angles: 

As the friendship between band mates is so solid, I like the idea of them named on a street sign, but perhaps as they reunited some years later after they first formed, I will highlight 'Back'. They came back. The wall is solid, like their union and their history. 

Thumbnails: 

I select my favourite two thumbnails, and as requested create 2 line drawings. 

Line drawing 1: 

A3. Requested size in brief, working to scale. 

In my thumbnail, I liked the addition of the glasses. The lead singer of the band wears them and I liked the idea that they are resting on the solid foundation of the band (the wall), above the band name, solidly fixed as a street name. 

The element of light coming in from the side, the band in the spotlight. 

The text boxes will appear where the light shines and again, on the brick wall. 

Line drawing 2: 

A3 size. A more focused set up. The wall with the street name 'Back'. The gig details will then fill the space in the middle of the page. Is this a little too simplistic though? Straight to the point at least! Looking again at the examples of posters I used for reference, some of them are incredibly simple, yet still so effective. 

Colour inspiration: 

The main feature of the poster - The wall. Oranges, yellows, reds and browns. I will match all elements of my final piece around these tones. 

Colour visual: 

Working my line drawing 1, and using the colour inspiration of the brick wall I used a mixed media of poster paints, watercolour and ink to hand draw this colour visual. I worked on the basis that I wanted the lines of this image to be neat and simplistic, I appreciate that I am using metaphors in my design process, and want the image to still appear easily readable to the audience. 

Final Poster: 

I edited the colour to brighten up with light coming from the stage lamp. 

As I am working with a wall, I wanted to choose a font inspired by the thought of someone hand writing the band name on the wall, underneath the street sign. Working my way through the fonts on Picassa 'AR Carter' was the perfect match. I then used this font throughout at different sizes. 

Going back to my reference examples of pop posters, I wanted to ensure that the band name stood out, so therefore, I used a red colour for this to draw the eye. The red was selected as a good colour match for the poster tones. 

Reflection: 

Working with the band directly has been an important learning curve. I am so glad I took the plunge to work with a real life band, it felt like a courageous step to make contact. 

I am really happy with the end result, again with the limitations of hand drawing my final piece and limited editing, for a first, it has been an important step. 

My thumbnails, proved essential and I found adding colour to them a fun way of getting my thoughts on paper. 

The reference examples I selected a the start of this assignment, have been a key reminder of the important elements I must remember. When I felt a little lost in this process, I referred my mind back to the images and the bullet point notes I made. . 

Where I remained true and focused, was to the story of 'Back in the Band'. It has been a pleasure. 

References: 

• Pop posters: Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, James Brown, Ray Charles, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Johnny Cash. 
• Stage lamps borrowed from the RSC.
• Interview with 'Back in the Band'.
• Photo provided by 'Back in the Band'. 
• 'Sketch your World' by James Hobbs. 
• 'Graphic 500 Designs that Matter' Phaidon. 
• 'Show Posters - The Art and Practise of Making Gig Posters' by Ben Nunery and Pat Jones.