Advanced Computer Graphics SPRING

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Assignment #2
Theatrical poster

The Story
Pippin is a musical that was first produced in 1972. It is the fictitious telling of the story of Char-
lemagne's son Pippin, and takes the rather classic structure of a young's man's evolution from
childhood into adulthood. The Bob Fosse production took a rather saccharine tale with pop music,
and made it darker and more ominous; the MPH production is inspired by the Fosse angle.

As Ms. Koziara describes it, there will be a play within the play—a well-known theatrical device—
with a character known as The Leading Player heading up a troupe of performers. The Leading
Player will be dark and threatening, manipulative of Pippin's life, but this will be initially subtle
and then increasingly obvious. Ms. Koziara mentioned a couple of themes that have marvelous
visual possibilities: the sun and magic. There is also the royal medieval world for inspiration.

AND YOUR ASSIGNMENT IS…

Your assignment will be to sketch out ideas for a poster, with careful attention early in the process
to the title treatment, which will serve as a kind of logo for the show. Develop your title design
along with the overall poster design; it’s all part of the same Gestalt. You can look online for im-
ages to either trace with the pen tool or use Live Trace, turning everything into vectors. Make this
picture research part of your sketch process so that you can support your design idea with images.

The examples of posters you see to your left do not begin to show the aesthetic possibilities of this
poster. Check out my teaching blog (martyblaketeaches.wordpress.com): look at the links in the
right hand column to see some cool poster designs. As you develop your ideas, think of a bold hi-
erarchy: big title, a dominant visual element, clear legibility for all of the smaller text. Don't forget
that posters must be strongly visible from a distance and draw the viewer in to read the details.

What does this have to do with computer graphics? Adobe Illustrator will lend itself beautifully to
the creation of geometric forms, repeat patterns and the layering of shapes. This assignment will
be an opportunity to develop your skills with the pen and shape tools, paths, Live Trace, and so on.

By February 9th, you will be presenting your title design and poster sketches to the director, Ms.
Koziara, so be prepared to describe your concept. She will choose
one or two of the designs for use on the program cover and T-shirt;
Art work size
all of the posters will be hung on campus to publicize the show. The
only drawback for this assignment is a tight time frame with winter 13 x 19"
break in the middle. So pace yourselves and use effective time
(Super B)
management so that you can meet the deadlines.

Sketches due by Tuesday, February 9

Finished poster design due Friday, February 26

GRADE: 20% Proper presentation

15% Degree of difficulty
65% Execution (Adept use of tools, artistry)