NNENNA FREELON, FOLLY JAZZ SERIES POSTER

This process of creating a jazz poster has been exciting and challenging. I came across many good discoveries and obstacles to work through. We started this project by producing creative ways of using the rhetorical figures: irony, pun, parody, metaphor, etc. I ended up using a synedodoche. The microphone stands in for the fact that she is a singer without showing a person singing and the silhouette alludes to her feminine qualities as well as her being a stage performer.


IMAGERY:
I chose to go with the water color look to show the smooth qualities in her music. The first time I listened to her I could hear the flow and smoothness and I think that water color is medium that can take on those qualities. I chose warmer colors with the cool colors to also represent her voice and style. She can be very slow and mellow but also very upbeat and exciting. I think the bright contrasting colors I have as well as some of the darker tones are very attention grabbing, rich, and vibrant. I wanted to show her as a person and performer. After watching some interviews and watching her videos and listening to her music, I saw this really bright personality and very feminine woman who loves to sing. I chose to use an older microphone to show her roots. She has done many covers of older famous artists and she appreciates these artists and what they have taught her. She does covers of these famous songs, but she recreates them in her own way.


TYPE:
Through the type I wanted to show the combination of her modernness as well as her more traditional feel. The two coming together just like in her music. I think that with the use of Neutraface Condensed and Bickham Script Pro typefaces I combined her more modern  with the classical. Neutraface has a modern retro feel and I chose condensed to replicate the slenderness of the figure. The Bickham Script has an old classic flowing look to it. So combining the new and modern, with the classic type with the overlapping the two to show her styles. I wanted her name big on the poster knowing that people will be driving by I wanted her name to be easy to quickly read. The type was probably the hardest part for me. The time and date I really struggled with. Keeping the hierarchy while trying to make the text look somewhat integrated as well as easily readable. 


In the end, I really wanted to create this beautiful eye-catching piece that represented Nnenna Freelon and her music. From what I can tell she is a amazing performer and person and I did not want to let her down.