Rock Star Supply Co: Poster and Ticket Draft 1

For this next project, we were challenged to create a series of work that promotes a concert organized by Macalester students and sponsored by Rock Star Supply Co., a non-profit organization that recruits volunteers to aid teachers and tutor students in Saint Paul schools. Ange assigned us into groups of three or four. Each group was given the responsibility of inventing a name for the concert and designing a poster, palm card, website landing page, and a fourth medium of choice around our theme. My fantastic group members include Ryan Weber, Katie Lindgren, and Becka Galarowicz. At this stage in the project, our group chose to divide and conquer. Ryan and I volunteered to tackle the poster and Becka and Katie began working on the website. Ryan also designed the palm card and I created the ticket. The first draft of the poster Ryan and I collaborated on is shown to the left and my first attempt at the ticket is shown below. Following our critique in class tomorrow, we plan on working together more as a group to finalize the pieces. 

The Macalester students requested a design that is simple, utilitarian, and energetic, which effectively promotes their event as well as Rock Star.  Given these guidelines, our group first agreed on maintaining the clean, modern aesthetic characteristic of this organization. Additionally, we selected a similar color palette, using black, white, and a highlight color and planned on placing the Rock Star logo in all four mediums. While incorporating brand identity elements is important, they also advised us to focus on the concert as a brand in itself. Our first hurdle: selecting an original concert name. After much brainstorming,  we decided to title it "Listen Up"; a name that pertains to both the academic and music aspects of this event. Our concept is centered around an image of a raising hand holding a calculator. The hand and calculator serve as the main icon for the series and can be seen in other media. As opposed to a pencil or a ruler, we chose this school related object due to the fact that the calculator best related to the Macalester student's interest in using the slogan "rock stars: entering the equation, becoming the solution." Furthermore, we incorporated a hand raising the calculator hoping that it would be somewhat reminiscent of the revolution fist, a symbol of action, power, and unity. Also, in some pieces, circles radiate from the icon, which we implemented to enforce the idea of sound.