New Haven Mural
Create a Poster for New Haven Connecticut’s Night Market
How can a poster design advertise the New Haven Night Market and the 80-plus vendors featured? To develop a creative display and win this contest, I must include:
The official New Haven Night Market logo
A depiction of my interpretation of what the Night Market looks like/means
Needs to display event and contact information such as date, time, location, website, and social media usernames.
Fit the dimensions of 11x17, vertical, one-sided.
Immersion, Inspiration, & Illustration
Taking advantage of my proximity to New Haven I went downtown to explore the location and all it has to offer. The area was rich in culture, unique shops, delicious foods, and a diverse range of visitors. The change in setting made me notice the life of the community, everything seemed so animated, and open to possibility. I was inspired to start placing the required information spread throughout my page. From there I realized there doesn’t have to be one direct answer in my design, I began doodling objects, people, and places and outlined each piece, so they stood out from each other. Whatever came to my mind filled my page and any remaining space was taken up by words related to the Night Market event. When I looked at my work and got the same excitement I had experienced at the location, I knew my piece had accomplished representing the New Haven community.
Finding My Niche
Translating my successful artistic style into a poster design, I was able to develop work that aligned with what New Haven’s Night Market means to me and represents the community. To accomplish this, I focused on:
Showcasing the impact of shopping at small businesses makes on a community
Capturing the emotions, actions, and unique experiences that come with the event
Enlarged key points of information to stand out in my design
Used the popularity of my past work to produce a collage-style illustration, which allowed for better showcasing of event vendors
Implementing life to objects and people through cartoon expressions
Creating for the community
New Haven District Services reached out regarding their love for my contest entry and wanted to offer a different purpose for my work. They envisioned my piece being more successful as a community art project for attendees of the New Haven Night Market. This would allow me to collaborate with them in enlarging my design to a mural size so visitors can color in the design. Once completed it would be featured in New Haven’s window display for the community to enjoy. The mural design was such a success at the event that the district filled a second mural of my work and ran out of all the coloring pages they had printed. Seeing the joy of kids coloring my piece reminded me of the reasons why I love creating and made me recognize how far I’ve come from being the kid whole loved to draw to the young adult making a career out of it.
