Overview

Create a gig poster for Billie Holiday’s concert.

Problem: using only 2 colors design a poster that will refer to the artist’s music without being too obvious.

Solution: Creating a poster that would captivate the audience with mystery and beauty, without giving too much away.

My role
  • Research
  • Concept
  • Layout
Length of project

1 week

Tools
  • Photoshop
  • InDesign
Team

1 designer

The process

I’ve conducted extensive research on the singer’s background as well as listened to her music. I’ve looked at her contemporary posters and have noticed that for the era, the posters consistent mostly of a photo and the venue information.

Then I got to ideation part of the project. I have employed the following thought process:

If her voice was a food – what would it be? Caramel came to mind when listening to her amazing voice.

If her voice was an animal – what would it be? It was a black panther appeared to me in my process. Because it moves graciously and has a beautiful velvety black fur, but is incredibly powerful.

If her singing was a plant – what would it be? For some reasons I kept thinking of Tiger lilies and orchids.

If her singing was an insect – what would it be? Butterflies seemed to be a reoccurring image in my mind.

Then paying homage to the time period, I decided to create a halftone effect in Photoshop. And since the limitation was 2 colors, and the food was caramel, orange was a natural choice. It’s warm, it’s energizing, it’s active, it’s powerful. Just like Billie Holliday’s singing. Then I used green blue to complement it.

Finally, I didn’t want to show the image of the singer, but rather show her essence.

The result

What I've learned

While working on this project, I’ve learned the importance of doing the research and listening to artist’s music, when creating a music poster. Then taking that knowledge and translating that information into visuals.