Salem Arts Festival

Poster Design

The Goal:

To design a poster series that not only promoted the festival event, but also that tapped into elements that make the festival special.

The Solution – 2022:

This design was not only inspired by an existing “location” theme the city itself was using but also by how people were starting to travel more, go places and wanted to be more involved after the pandemic lockdown and we wanted the Salem Arts Festival to be one of their stops. The purpose of making it a poster series was to showcase the some of main aspects of the festival: dance, music, art and community.

The Solution – 2025:

This poster offers a significant amount of movement and connection to the Arts Festival through the figure dancing, with the electric guitar and paint brush angled on either side. A wave-like banner with the festival name then overlaps the icons providing a sense of connection around how this festival includes all art forms. The wave-like banner and “Salem” font style was chosen as a subtle nod to Salem’s Maritime history. The banner/flag is blowing in the wind and the font has a maritime feel with it’s unique serifs and how the letter “A” arches over, similar to a boat’s sail. A nod to the original logo is then conveyed through the complimentary sans serif font for the type “Arts Festival.” I then added paisley shaped color splashes to tie into the paint brush and the contribution that fine arts has in the festival. These splashes also hold movement as they come from behind the festival logo and up from the bottom housing sponsorship information. With this poster we also wanted the primary focus to be on the dates in order to capture the attention of people walking down the street and draw them in to learn more.

Open Mic

Poster Design

The Goal:

Design gig posters for open mic feature performers that reflected the musician’s unique style and personality.

The Solution:

I really enjoyed designing these posters because I spent weeks listening to their music and getting to know them as people/artists. Whether it was adding a small detail like flipping the “E”s to represent piano keys or designing an entire poster inspired by the Australian and New Zealand cultures, finding the elements that reflected the musicians was always exciting. Shown below are some of my favorite posters I designed during this special time.

Jackie Kamel Gig Poster black and white illustration

Matt Natti Gigi Poster - Maori didgeridoo illustration