George Balanchine's
Nutcracker
Poster
Concept 2022
Millie's Introduction:
I was inspired to create a selection of posters for the annual NYC Ballet Company's production of 'The Nutcracker.' During this process I carefully considered keeping synergy with the company through the use of logos and positioning of the text. I had researched prior examples of how the production has been advertised. This was done to keep continuity but also adapt to my own style.
Poster One: 'Sugar Plum.'
I considered the positioning of the text for this poster, after researching the New York Ballet Company website I saw that they frequently place the text sideways. So, I replicated this idea for the placement of the 'Nutcracker.'
In the Pine Forrest
Poster Two: 'Pine Forrest.'
When brainstorming for this project, I designed this poster with the idea that it would be main poster. This was the idea that considered when creating some of the other aspects such as the placement of text. Unlike the first poster the title is central, I wanted the image to interact with the text, notice how the hands reach over the 'A' and 'C'. This was a deliberate choice as the hand holding being the focus of the poster links to the relationship between the characters in the production.
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
Poster 3: 'The Nutcracker and Mouse King.'
reflecting on the previous posters, I wanted to incorporate all the aspects of text that I had used. For example, 'George Balanchine.' Is sideways, I took that idea from the first poster. Whereas the title is horizontal, like the second poster. I considered the placement of the title over the image. however, I felt that by placing the title in the centre, it would take away from the action of the image.
Logo Creation
As this concept project was not a re-branding of the company, I did not feel it would be appropriate to change the logo. However, as I was working with three different colour schemes (Pink, Blue and Green) I wanted the logo to have a degree of synergy with the poster. I had originally tried keeping the greyscale logo on each poster, but I found it looked slightly out of place. To solve this the three logos on the right have been coloured with the same colour palette as each separate poster.
Creation of the Title
I was keen to emulate the company through various elements like the typeface used. I used the typeface 'DIN' which was very close to the typeface used by the company. Similar to the logo, I changed the colour of the logo for each poster. For the second poster I had tried to change the transparency. However, I found once placed on the poster, the transparent logo looked lost with the image. That perhaps could have worked better on a white background or as a graphic.
Practical Application: On a Buildng
Once I had created the posters that I was satisfied with I placed them onto the side of New York Ballet Company building. This was an important step as it allowed me to visualise how the materials would look in a real-world scenario. I considered the placement of the posters and thought that the second poster would look best in the middle. As described earlier I had envisioned the 'Pine Forrest' poster as the main visual due to the central placement of the title. I think that this worked well as there is a flow and continuity to how the posters look.
