BACKGROUND 

 

Havin’ A Ball Productions is based out of Houston, Texas. They book and produce all the shows for Last Concert Café. The owner, Scott Holmes, contacted me, saying that he needed a last minute concert poster for a Halloween show. I was given free reign on the project with the stipulation the bands' names, venue name, date, time and his company’s logo were visible on the poster. 

 

 

STRATEGY

 

I decided to create something fun and exciting that carried the ghoulish spirit of Halloween. I researched old tales and folklore for my subject matter and landed on the classic headless horseman. In most illustrated forms, the Headless Horseman evokes fear and eerie feelings but I wanted to recreate his image in light of the evening's fun and festive ambiance.

 

I designed the backdrop of the poster to resemble the actual venue, making a picnic table on a sandpit, running up to a brick porch with a small cocktail table. It is a fun element that only cognoscente, Last Concert Café veterans would recognize. 

 

From there, it was a matter of creating a space to frame the event’s details. I employed a bellowing smoke cloud to feature the typography. In order to maintain the circulation of the viewers eye, I placed a young skeleton lady behind the smoke cloud.