The making of the EMERCOM winter posters
Four pages of detailed instructions on what to do in a snowstorm, on black ice, by the Christmas tree and while launching fireworks need to fit into two posters. With the help of the client we reduce everything down to a few mandatory, even obvious rules which, nevertheless, are often ignored causing accidents and traumas. Wear shoes with flat rippled soles. Do not decorate the Christmas tree with candles. Do not try to reignite failed fireworks. Taking into account the art director’s comments we make one of the posters less imposing by removing all the “do nots.”
Meanwhile we keep thinking about the illustrations. We don’t want to scare anyone. The posters will hang in kindergartens and schools, meaning they should be nice and pleasant to look at. We get an idea to combine several New Year skits in a paper silhouette illustration. Many details and few colors—intricate and tasteful.
Looking for examples. Making a sketch based on the work of Béatrice Coron. Approving the chosen direction with the art director and the client and starting the realization process which will soon change everything.
We decide to draw the posters with the help of two designers. In order to make the posters look different, each designer cannot see what the other one is doing.
One designer suggests to make the poster on black ice and snowstorms as if it were made of paper, using paper snowflakes.
The first sketch.
Art director: Can do.
Preparing the second, more detailed sketch to show to the client.
Client: Can do.
Cutting it out.
The art director gives advice on the proper use of social network icons.
Making it the way it should be and finalizing the design.
For the poster on New Year holidays we come up with a composition and individual skits.
Art director: Depressingly gloomy.
Searching for characters and style.
Designer: Maybe we should make simple skits on white background with captions? Tie them up into a story?
Art director: That looks fine.
Drawing.
Printing out the poster, putting it up on the wall and checking the legibility.
Impersonalizing the texts, making a bunch of small corrections, adding the phone number and the social networks block.
