DESIGN PROCESS: weir world commemorative poster
Weir World was a six-day live music series at City Winery Chicago before and during the Grateful Dead 50th Anniversary shows at Soldier Field in Chicago. The project was daunting--a commemorative poster needs to be informative, pretty, and indicative of its time and place. The psychedelic imagery of the Grateful Dead and the '60s has spawned so many visual clichés that I wanted to avoid making yet another one, but still reference the era visually.
Research and Observation
Grateful Dead imagery includes roses, skull and skeleton imagery, radial symmetry, bright colors, psychedelic lettering, and of course, the iconic "Steal Your Face" logo.
Gathering Images
Scan of anatomical illustration
Scan of rose drawing
Image Appropriation
Experiment: melting a face with my scanner
Experiments with symmetry and kaleidoscopic images
Hand lettering in the style of Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead's "Steal Your Face" logo
I drew the title lettering using the logo as a reference.
The Final Poster
The limited edition poster included the rose illustration, the skull illustration, and one of the "skull-melting" experiments. The pattern in the background is made of lightning bolts from the "Steal Your Face" logo. As part of the psychedelic appeal of the poster, I inserted some pieces that can't be seen immediately, but can be slowly discovered after looking closely.