Behind the Scenes of "The Sal Show"

This project seems like a simple thing to design because it is about yourself but in fact, that makes it more difficult. How do you portray yourself to others honestly and creatively? What makes you stand out and how will others know this is about you?

The way to go about this is to pick the most important aspect of your life and base it off that. What do people know you for? Taking that into consideration will help streamline ideas and develop your design. Even though there is not one thing that defines a person, using one aspect of life as opposed to many will give a better understanding of who someone is. Having multiple ideas will confuse the message and will not create a cohesive design.

The idea behind this postcard was performance. It is quite obvious that this postcard has to do with someone who has ties to the theatre and performing. This is evident in the curtain background. This person has been or has worked on stage before. It is also obvious with the element of the ticket. With these obvious symbols, an idea of who this person is begins to form.

There is a story behind everyone and the elements they choose to put on their postcard helps tell that story even better. From colors to font and even the picture on the card, choosing the right ones will really enhance the message, while choosing the wrong ones will confuse the message. That is why having a clear idea will give better guidance to what is right for a design. 

The way color was chosen for this card was simple. The ticket was modeled after a raffle ticket rather than a concert or a show ticket because the shape is more recognizable. The rectangle shape with curved corners and jagged sides communicates ticket more than a normal rectangle does. After the shape was decided the color was next. Thinking about this certain ticket, it was obvious to choose yellow. These tickets are seen in different but very specific colors, yellow being the most popular. The background was made black and white to serve as a neutral base that would not pull focus from what is on the ticket. The big text on the ticket is grey and white to blend into the background and to make the blue text on top of it easier to read. The blue was chosen for the body text because there needed to be a pop that could be read above the yellow and the white letters behind it. 

The yellow against the black and white background shows a positive feeling about this person. Yellow is a happy and bright color, it is usually associated with joy and positivity. Having this color on the postcard helps associate these feelings with this person.

The font for the body text had to be simple because it lays on top of other text. The font used for “starring” and “The Sal Show” is called “Casino”. It was a great fit because it resembles letters with lightbulbs on them. This is very similar to a Broadway marquee with lightbulbs that go around the whole sign. It also mimics the dressing room mirrors with light bulbs all around it. The point of having “The Sal Show” in this font was to make it resemble a show marquee.

The visual hierarchy played a role in this design. Putting the photo in the center and having everything around it shows that the photo is important. Which it is because it shows who the postcard is about. The ticket was placed in the center of the card, but everything was placed on it and was contained in its borders, giving the illusion of a real ticket.

Using InDesign was essential for placing all the elements together. Silhouetting a photo could not be done anywhere else besides Photoshop. If the ticket was made in Indesign it would have complicated everything because this design had text over text and a text-wrap. Having made the ticket with “The Sal Show” text on it in Illustrator helped keep everything simple when placing all the elements in Indesign.

Designing something like a postcard shows how well or poorly someone can communicate who they are to others. It is important also to learn how to communicate because other people can confirm how well it was achieved or how poorly it failed.