While working with VividSpark (a local design agency located in Nanaimo, BC & Alberta) I worked closely with the Albertan heating, air conditioning, and plumbing company First Call. They a well known local Albertan company servicing Edmonton, St. Albert, and Sherwood Park, and have a very recognizable brand due to their main mascots Dave & Anna modelled after the companies founders Dave & Anna.
Work Overview
One of my many task while working with First Call was their promotional playbills. Each promotional playbill has its own hand crafted illustration created by me. I have created playbills with the following themes:
• Charley and the Chocolate Factory
• Snow White and the 7 Goodfella's
• Lady Marmalade
• Footloose
• Festival Musicions
• Generic Theater
Design Process
The design process for these playbills consist of several stages starting from ideation, all the way to finalization. Some playbills take longer than others depending on their complexity, but the process is almost always the same.
Step 1, Ideation/Brainstorming:
When given the theme for the future playbill I am usually given some inspiration images from the client and art director to help with the creation process. These will help me gauge what look and feel the client is looking for.
After I review the given images I find my own reference & inspiration image to help me craft the perfect illustrations that capture the playbills theme perfectly. I use my references to help with the mascots posing and costume design, as well as what elements I should include in the background.
Step 2, Mascot Illustration:
After I complete my research I move onto illustration. I first start with the mascots Dave & Anna, more than not they are always included in promotional materials together rather than separate.
I chose a pose that I can work with from my references and then move onto designing the costumes. Designing the costumes is a very important and crucial step in the illustration process as I must incorporate the brands colour palette and logo into the design. First Call's brand colours consist of a bright deep orange, black, and white. To help me easily incorporate theses colour I often illustrated the costumes as they appear in my references, then carefully choose what articles of the costumes I can change the colour without making the costumes unrecognizable to the theme/source material.
Step 3, Playbill Layout:
After the long process of creating the mascot illustration, I then move on to creating the actual playbill. I place all the necessary assets and information into the InDesign file, laying it out in a way where everything is balanced and nothing stands out more than it should. Then after all that is done I create the background elements.
Step 4, Finalization/Approval:
Once I am happy with the playbill I send it to the client for approval. They are typically always happy with how they playbills look, and thankful that I could bring their idea to life.
Finished Product(s)
