Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival
Since 1997 the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, a non-profit professional theatre organization, has presented professional programs and performances of William Shakespeare’s works for the education and entertainment of people of all ages. Every year, it produces the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival featuring two plays by William Shakespeare. The festival is held on the California Lutheran University campus and invites students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community to join.
I designed posters of six Shakespearean plays and truly enjoyed the experience in which I learned more about the symbolism and characters of the plays than I did in high school. Othello and Two Noble Kinsmen posters were created for the 2018 Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival.
CLIENT
Kingsmen Shakespeare Company
ROLE
Graphic Design, Print Design
Challenge
The challenge for this project was to create original poster designs that embody clients’ visions for featured plays while preserving the essence of the well-known Shakespearean stories.
In order to do so, it was crucial to learn the featured plays and their synopsis, characters, and symbols. Once I had a good understanding of the plays, I proceeded to have a kickoff meeting with play directors to discuss themes, play settings, and other details they would like to see reflected on poster designs.
Concept Review
Three concepts for each play were created by compositing and editing stock images. They were presented to play directors and an executive director of Kingsmen Shakespeare Company. Based on their feedback and suggestions from the review, I revised client-selected concepts to visualize featured plays more accurately. Poster designs were finalized through continuous communication with the clients to ensure a satisfying and successful outcome.
“Jee’s work has maintained the very high quality of creativity and drama that our patrons have come to expect. Many attendees comment on the posters and how excited they are to receive our initial Spring mailing advertising the coming Festival.
Often shows that we select for the summer may not be familiar to our audience members but the poster designs bring interest and excitement to each and every show that we produce.
Working closely with the show directors, Jee has captured the flavor and mood of each play and given our Company a brand awareness that is unmatched in our region. I am a member of a regional Arts Commission and have heard numerous comments from members about the quality and creativity of our show marketing materials, primarily the posters.”
– Timothy Hengst, Executive Director, Kingsmen Shakespeare Company
Outcome/Impact
After several rounds of review and discussion with internal clients, the below posters were selected as final designs.
The posters helped set the tone and theme of the plays and also raised awareness of the event to generate interest and ticket sales. They were distributed to several off-campus sites to promote the plays, which in turn, increased awareness of California Lutheran University where the event is held.
