Big Head Events - Creation of a poster.

I have been commissioned to design and produce a poster which will be used by 'Big Head Events' to publicise their murder mysteries and themed parties. For my initial brief, i was given a rough version of the text required for the poster...next i was given a list of some of the themed events and characters and developed a short series of rough sketches which were viewed by 'Big Head's' personnel.

I had initially been asked to consider a cartooney type of image rather retro in style along the lines of famous British cartoonist Ronald Searle.Among his most famous creations are the characters of the St.Trinian's school..movies of which were based on his drawings, and ultimately the drawings were used in the publicity and opening credits of the movies.

above you can see a photo graph of my rough sketches on top of a basic version of the text. I am also referring to source material from the St Trinian's DVDs and 'Carry On' movies (which I love!!)
Once the sketch is approved, I then proceed to begin work on the pencil drawing of the images ready to be inked. Remember, I am not a graphic designer and do not rely on computerised methods of image creation (text is a different matter)..so I go about it in the old fashioned way!

The inking begins with me first establishing the title of the theatre company.Other text will be added by the printer when the image is finished . In the meantime, I shall make a mock up of where I want the text to go and what it will look like.

I want to emulate the retro font used on the St Trinians movie posters.The text gives the impression that some one has used a scratchy pen that dispenses globs of ink off in all directions. I add as a last thought, two naughty little cherubs in the corners...I think I'll have them firing arrows.

The finished inking makes use of defined areas of black ink to create easily recognisable characters which stand out . I like the cheeky detective with the magnifying glass! The next stage is to add some colour.

Join me tomorrow to see the final version before it goes off to the printers.

Thank you for all the recommendations for digital cameras. I've been looking at a few of your ideas and will let you know what takes my eye!