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Aloha Gig Poster

The finale assignment for my Photoshop class was to design a gig poster. I chose to make one for the last show I saw, Aloha at the Rock and Roll Hotel back in April.

While I consider the music of Aloha to be inspiring, I did not have a clear vision of what imagery I could use appropriately for the band. Looking at their album art, they do not have a singular "look" I could base my design off of, or use as a starting block. I knew I wanted something intricate, but at the same time, easy to consume.

The final result you see came after several revisions. I really like that half-tone coloring - all the stripes you see in the top image. From far away you don't even notice it, but when you get up close, it becomes captivating, if executed correctly. I had a terrible time figuring out how to use it appropriately. The version I presented used only layers and layers of type. The colors were muddy and the half-tone effect was jarring. My instructor critiqued how it made her feel anxious, on edge. I had to agree. That ain't no Aloha.

Then I found that elephant photo, and it opened up a new avenue to take the composition. The soft shading of the toy elephant was ideal for the half-tone effect. It balanced well with the type. Simply comparing thumbnails, I could I was getting closer to having it look more like a poster, and less like . . . . a design.

I still need to print this one out. In the physical medium, it's 13 x 19. I think all those stripes work better on print. Digitally, they lose their value since they are reduced to pixels. See the difference between the high res image on top, and a scaled down version to the right.

The elephant photo is Pink elephant by +fatman+. Image was released under a BY-NC Creative Commons license.