J-Bobs Carthage Concert Poster
March 2022
Prompt: Promoting J-Bobs' March 5 St. Jude charity concert at Carthage College
Solution: I created two promotional posters, this one emphasizing the pirate crew I was performing with. I created an action-packed illustration of us sailing the sea, with the text inside the scope of J-Bobs' binoculars. This creates movement and gives the type a practical purpose.
Challenges: The clock. I was racing the deadline and ended up cutting some corners. If I had more time I would improve the illustration of the water.
Success: Moment. Everything seems expressive and alive. I grew my confidence in illustrating characters in action.
Autumn Groovefest House Show
Nov 2023
Prompt: Promoting a house show hosted by J-Bobs & friends on a cool autumn night.
Solution: I created flat art J-Bobs style caricature illustrations of each of the performers over a cool autumn background in order to create the proper aesthetic.
Challenges: Whoops, forgot shading!
Success: Hand-drawn typography & color scheming creates a groovy autumn feel to the poster.
J-Bobs Carthage Concert Poster 2
March 2022
Prompt: Promoting J-Bobs' March 5 St. Jude charity concert at Carthage College.
Solution: I created two promotional posters, this one emphasizing the headliner. I used digital illustration to match my personal branding. I used emphasis to draw one's attention to the eyes of the poster.
Challenges: The approval stamp could not be applied where I intended. I created a 2 inch square in the upper right corner, but the brown background of my hair was too dark, so it was stamped in the chest of J-Bobs.
Success: Scale. My caricature illustrations had previously been small scale, or sketch. This project amplified my confidence in my style of human form at any scale.
Unconventional Exhibition
May 2020
Prompt: Creating a promotional poster for a mock exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum
Solution: I created an exhibit of artwork sunburned onto models backs for skin cancer awareness. I photoshopped my back to make it look burned for the headline.
Challenges: Layout. I went through 3 different designs before I settled on this one.
Success: Typographic arrangement. I put a lot of thought and work into the body type, and it became very dynamic and beautiful.
Celebration of Scholars
October 2020
Prompt: Creating a logo, poster, and branding system for Carthage College's Celebration of Scholars awards.
Solution: I created the logo as an owl to symbolize wisdom and growth. I was heavily inspired by the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio to create every part of this design. The owl was created from golden circles and balanced with the golden ratio. I also used the golden ratio to balance the type on the poster.
Challenges: Color. I put so much meaning into each minute detail of this design, yet I struggled to communicate through color. I ended up making 5 different colored versions and just choosing my favorite aesthetically.
Success: Balance. My emphasis on the golden ratio created an outstanding sense of balance within the logo and poster.
Timed Perspectives
October 2022
Prompt: Creating a call for entries/ promotional graphic for a "timed perspectives" themed photo exhibition as part of my Photo, Film, and New Media Fellowship.
Solution: Warping 3 images of a clock together, and adding warped type into the directional movement created from the clock background. This communicates the tone of timed perspectives while also communicating the actual information.
Challenges: Warping the smaller body text without affecting readability. I could only skew so far to be careful that everything was communicated.
Success: Working for a client, understanding, and communicating their needs. Keeping my fellowship scholarship.
Light In, Light Out
March 2023
Prompt: Creating a call for entries/ promotional graphic for a "Light in Light out" themed photo exhibition as part of my Photo, Film, and New Media Fellowship.
Solution: I photographed an on and off light bulb in a dark room to communicate the contrast of the exhibition. I photoshopped my hand out, and played with typographic layout to balance the poster.
Challenges: The topic of the show was very heavy in regard to mental health, which added a lot of personal responsibility to the poster. In my first draft, I struggled with readability.
Success: Working for a client, understanding, and communicating their needs, again. Keeping my fellowship scholarship.
Typographic List Poster
April 2021
Prompt: Create a poster for a top 10 list found on the internet focused on typographic layout.
Solution: My poster is weighted heavily to the bottom right, yet the space is balanced. Scale, weight, and color direct attention to the headline. A flame gradient of color trails the body type up adding vertical movement. Line is used to establish a border, and emphasize the headline.
Challenges: Balancing the weight of the flame illustration. I originally struggled to fill the negative space in the upper right corner without making the flame graphic overpowering. I solved this by adding the lower opacity sparks trailing up the poster. This creates even more directional movement, and helps balance the weight.
Success: Color. My gradients and color choices were very strong and work to establish the tone of the poster
DRAFT Posters
October 2019
Prompt: Creating promotional graphics for DRAFT Graphic Design Club
Raise the Bar
March 2019
Prompt: Create a logo, poster, slogan, and brand identity for the 2020 Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference.
Solution: Raise the bar is inspirational and elevating, while being a play on words. I used the construction to symbolize growth, while the crane is physically lifting the logo. The "I" in raise is the symbol of an arrow that physically raises above the bar bordering it.
Challenges: I struggled with balancing the required Business Professionals of America logo in the poster. I ended up placing it symmetrically on a cloud to balance the bottom-heavy poster and have my slogan pointing at the BPA logo.
Success: I created this poster entirely with the shape builder and pathfinder tools in Illustrator. It shows my mastery of shape manipulation.
Coopers Hawk Birthday Gift
January 2020
Prompt: Wish my mom a happy birthday alongside my other siblings with a 6-month Cooper's Hawk wine membership.
Solution: I balanced the logo, text, theme, and graphics with a crooked line to emulate pouring wine flowing down the poster. My siblings and I are all initialed on mini wine bottles.
Challenges: My siblings are older than me and have more money so chipping in with them in gifts is expensive.
Success: John Luckas said this was a really strong piece at the AIGA portfolio review. John Luckas said I should only keep three posters and this should be one of them.
Art Deco Lil Darkie Gig Poster
October 2022
Prompt: Create a poster in a historical graphic design style
