Still Beats

This is a flyer to promote ‘The Sydney Road Street Festival’. In particular celebrate the cultural diversity of the inner city suburb of Brunswick. Originally a working class suburb now becoming super hip. And like all things popular starting to lose its core in the process.

So I wanted to bring back that ‘home grown close-knit Italian, Lebanese, Greek pulsing city dancing in the street’ vibe. I wanted to create something raw and with the feel of hands on it. And I wanted people to know this was a party.

The idea and aim behind this was to Encourage community connections and bring locals together. I also wanted to bring locals back outside (given the current pandemic-induced lock-down situation they have been through).

The client also had some additional requests – that the type package was to act as core branding element. They wanted a unique bespoke typographic response. Even hand-made. And the tone was to be unique, identifiable, vibrant, joyful and exiting. The visual keywords I came up with for this brief were ‘street-level’, ‘high touch’, ‘collective’, ‘grungy heart’.

This was to be a loud and clear statement that brunswick’s grungy heart still beats.

The type lock-up was created by first manually transferring printed Helvetica type (set backwards) to a few different stocks (canvas paper was one) and then auto traced in Illustrator.

Once in Illustrator I pulled a few versions out. Some had all the counters removed some didn’t. There was something captivating about the lockup when I left the counters in and even better when I kept them white.

The lockup with the white counters left in was originally a mistake. A Carson piece was one of my references. The lockup with the counters in had that Carson vibe. It also had this super home and hand made vibe. I pictured a Greek dancer Mum helping us make the posters and the community helping us sticking them up on Union and Vic.

When I looked at it I think wtf someone has scrawled “Hey we are having a party!” with a sharpie. “And why are the white centres there. Who made this and what is this crazy shit?”. This is a street level party. It’s the raw seething mass getting it done.

Anyway neither Creatvie Director (Busby or Reyes) were into the white counters and didn’t waste time in telling me to ditch em. And cause I know they have a good sense of humour one day when they are not looking I am going to put them back in after it comes back from the printers just act like I didn’t realise.

The type lock up was kinda everything for this brief. It was that raw human homemade grungy heart.

Around the same time I had also started printing work onto vellum (tracing paper). And the result captivated me. One it looked wild just on it’s own. But when I overlaid it on top of the exact same piece of work printed on something more traditional it created this wild effect. Brought it to life.

It was like hitting bold.

Part of the effect was the change in the registration. And you could get a blur of differing levels and intensity going with it too. But the other part of the effect seemed more like it just gave the entire piece a type of increased contrast.

And there is a visceral feel to things when printed to this. Hand -made. And tactile. Like you want to touch it. Run your hand over it. Get close to it.

That Greek dancer Mum I mentioned before. She never made it into the final signed off poster. But was a huge element of my early research, approach and work in progress submissions. I pictured her making her kids lunches and wrapping them up in greaseproof paper. And I am sure that stuff will go through the printer too.

Picture this …

A handmade poster printed on the stuff your lunches were wrapped in when you were a kid. Or perhaps even still are.

This is about a grass roots no frills raucous street party for the people of Brunswick.

And everyone is invited.

And welcome.