Posters

Brand identity, Graphic Design

Communications campaigns anchored by conceptually-themed poster series.

Client
The Vine
Date
December 1, 2015
my Role
Creative Director, Visual Designer
Link

During my time as the creative director at The Vine, I led the in-house creative team as well as a volunteer team of artists. I created the visual style and designed the poster series displayed throughout the building for each speaking series, which was an exciting creative challenge for me with every new campaign. My position also allowed me to foster and support the artist community within the greater arts scene of Hong Kong.

The project

For each series, my task was to create the visual look and feel based on the theme, often using abstract visuals as metaphors for purely conceptual topics, and launch the series across multiple platforms.

The challenge

To generate excitement around each speaking series for a diverse and multicultural audience, through creating a new visual brand unique to each series.

The big idea

To get people excited about each speaking series, while providing an immediate emotional connection with the subject matter through creative and unique visual branding. My team and I installed each poster series as environmental touchpoints throughout the building, as well as using the series branding to develop email and social media campaigns, website content and presentation templates.

The process

I facilitated in-depth conversations with the head pastor in order to understand the main concepts of each sermon series, and distilled those through a personal creative process to develop a visual look and feel that represented and communicated the main concepts of the series. I provided lo-fi sketches and initial visual concepts for feedback, iterating and honing the development of the brand with internal feedback from multiple sources until a concrete visual brand had been fully developed. I provided creative direction, utilizing our network of talented artists and designers, and created the series of posters as well as other visual elements needed for the branding and promotion of the series across multiple platforms.

The payoff

A uniquely stylized, colorful and impactful visual brand for each speaking series, displayed in oversized posters throughout the building as well as digital spaces, promoting and generating excitement while simultaneously increasing awareness and understanding of each speaking series.

The Women of Christmas speaking series focused on the role that women played in the Christmas story. In the traditional telling of the story, the focus has been on the wise men, the innkeeper and the shepherds; though women were central figures in the story, we often overlook their influence in our traditional telling of the story. Through viewing the Christmas story from a different angle, this series sought to give empowerment to the women of this story as well as in modern times.

As I developed the main image for the posters, my goal was to create a sort of icon, rather than a literal image of a woman. In making a more artistic representation of a women I hoped that the women who viewed the posters would be able to identify themselves in the image to some extent, and know that the content of the speaking series included themselves as well as the women from the Christmas story.

I wanted to make this poster series different and special, so I developed a technique of hand-printing borne out of necessity because we had no printing equipment. We used six different colors of ink, rolled and set as block-printing objects at different stages throughout the process, thereby creating different combinations of colors to ensure a variety of unique posters throughout the building. Once the speaking series concluded, the posters went on sale, and sold out within a matter of days.

No items found.
No items found.
Conclusion

As the product lifecycle is still ongoing, we haven't yet reached the stage of analyzing sales and customer feedback yet. Without these metrics in place, we can determine that there are still rounds of iteration coming in the near future, and this will help continue to strengthen the efficiency and user satisfaction of this product. As my largest and most complex UI/UX project yet, this has been a learning experience for me, but I'm proud of the work and value I've contributed to this product.

Pam Golafshar's expertise has been critical to the successful development of our application. She understands complex processes and is able to map and design with an eye towards both aesthetics and function. She has listened attentively to our specific needs, and her insights for design impact on end user experience, as well as for creating ready-to-market features, have been invaluable for our team. From UI/UX to marketing designs, Pam has provided us with premium service from start to finish.

– David R. Wilson, Ph.D., StrataVue CEO