Now that December is here, I thought it would be fun to give you a quick inside look at our design process behind one of our Christmas projects.
In 2016, our friends at Overshadowed Theatrical Productions hired us to create original poster artwork for their production of a Christmas Carol.
We wanted to create a poster that was fun and festive with traditional elements that connected it with Dicken's classic story.
First, we researched the time period, the setting (London), and what past artwork we could find both for the book and the play. We like using the Library of Congress website and Flickr Commons to study historical photos.
Here's a look at the first edition book cover from 1843.
Then, we turned our attention to the logo type. We knew it would be a key element, not only on the poster, but also for other advertising channels.
We selected 6 fonts as our top contenders for the logo type, with styles ranging from clean, to ornate, to whimsical.
Our final pick was the beautifully ornate font LHF Carnivale.
Letterhead Fonts describes Carnivale as "reminiscent of classic glass signage from the late 1800's" — making it the perfect choice for our Christmas Carol poster.
Now with our font selected, we began arranging the words and letters to transform them into a memorable logo.
We set the type along a curved path — a nice start, but it needs more.
We added some large initial caps at the start of each word and a larger "L" to balance out the right side of the logo.
Then, we fine tuned a few letters - manually redrawing the shapes to reduce some of the font's ornamentation and increase readability.
Here is a side-by-side look at the redrawn version.
Lastly, we added the finishing touches — some bright Christmas colors, strokes, texture effects, and of course a bow on top.
Here's how the final logo type looks in the context of its poster.
Author and designer Timothy Samara says:
Typography stands at the crossroads of the beautiful and the useful.
—Timothy Samara
His quote concisely sums up the reason why we love working with type as a design element. It's especially rewarding to create a design solution that is both practical and beautiful.
Hope you enjoyed this inside look at our design process.
Do you have a project that could benefit from some typographic flair? Get in touch with the Harvest Media team at 847-352-4345 or send us a message.
Give Your Business a Competitive Edge
“How to Differentiate Your Business” is a free guide and workbook, packed with helpful tips to boost customer loyalty and attract right-fit customers + clients.
Mike is the creative director at Harvest Media and loves to help clients grow.
Rebranding is an exciting process, and - when done correctly - it can provide game-changing results for your company. But, developing a new brand design takes an extraordinary amount of time and energy. … read more
Marketing is the fuel that drives the sales engine for every successful company’s growth and profitability. Here are the 3 critical steps that you need to take to create an annual marketing plan that gets results for your company. … read more
