The making of the Airborne Forces Day poster

Wild as it might be, the Airborne Forces Day is truly a wonderful holiday. What makes is beautiful is the fact that it were the people who thought of a way to celebrate it, completely disregarding the official side of things. Were the government any smarter, they would have turned the tradition of fountain diving and bottle head smashing into a show, same way it happened with bull running and tomato fights in other countries. And the telnyashka (traditional striped sailor shirts worn by Russian Airborne Forces) is so beautiful on its own that it’s not even necessary to come up with a design.

But this was not instantly clear to us. The first ambiguous attempt says hi to Paul Rand.

Art director: Go on.

Yep, we need sheer sincerity here.

Designer: Here, an interactive poster. Needs to be torn in half before hanging. Life-sized.

Art director: What the hell, let’s do it.

Thinking how to realize the idea given that the poster will have a caption.

Drawing in vector.

Taking a photograph of a telnyashka and of a person wearing it.

Putting it all together.

The art director chooses the drawn version.

Polishing. Experimenting with lines, their thickness and curving around the caption.

Nothing in excess.

Testing.

Getting another approval form the art director and preparing the announcement.