Back to the lab ...

It's been a while since I worked on anything ACME related. Like playing with Legos, sometimes working on something else helps trigger the catalyst for a project you're avoiding like the plague.

If you wish to see earlier experiments relating to ACME read these posts ...
Curtain Up!
Curtain Up! ... Part 2
Curtain Up! ... Part 2.2

One of the goals of any theatre company should be formulating a season and pushing the heck out of it. Each show should be feeding the next one. Ideally, publicity should come as close as possible to a perpetual motion machine. No matter how much you’ve heard the message (and yes, you and the team are probably sick of it), someone out there hasn’t. Wouldn’t it be neat if you had to add performances to handle the demand?

Among the simplest solutions is the production of a season brochure. It should possess as much info as can be handled without becoming completely unreadable. (Let’s face it; there is a limit as to how much you can cram onto two sides of a sheet of paper.) A poster doesn't need to go into that much detail, just the shows and pertinent dates, and guidance to your website.

Of course, there’s a ton of prep work to do up front, don’t kid yourself into thinking there’s not, but the rest of the season will run so much easier because of it. Plus, it frees up time during the season to come up with other creative ideas for getting the word out. (He says, hopefully.)

Brochure, side one. Legal-size, this includes the front
and back covers, when folded properly.

I reworked some of the show logos (surprise) since I last posted on this topic. If you recall, I mentioned trying to form the title Gorey Stories into the shape of a ghostly head, but it ultimately ended up looking like the alien skull in the last Indiana Jones movie. Not good. If any of you have watched the opening credits for Mystery! on PBS, you’ve seen his drawings. In lieu of hiring an artist to pay an homage, I found a suitable spooky looking house, gave it an overcast look, and it serves as the background.


I tweaked the Die! Mommie! Die! logo again, too. The original background was an image of white satin with a pinkish overlay. I changed the overlay to light grey, and the resulting product is reminiscent of a film noir title streaked with blood. I’m a little torn, as either one can be used and still be effective. The Lion in Winter underwent some adjusting, mainly with the lettering. Tightening up the title allows the lion graphic to gain an equal footing.

I’ve not changed Mixed Couples. I lucked out in finding the old airport image, and I’ve not seen a reason to mess with it. I’m not going to tempt the fates by saying this is perfect, but to me it’s a good depiction of the story; title, and setting.

I put the ticket order form on the most expendable piece of real estate: the front cover. However, I noticed that I didn’t have any company logos anywhere else. I deleted a page dedicated to auditions, by putting those dates below the relevant shows. In the resulting space, is a big logo with the two of the most important components of theatre above it. (No, I’m not completely satisfied. A mission statement perhaps?)

Speaking of company logos, you’ll notice I changed that up, too. I used a Bodoni-style typeface, and while something like that screams at one no matter what the words actually are, the message is softened a little when used in lowercase.

Brochure, side two. This is the guts: shows, descriptions,
audition info, and ticket order form. 

Ordinarily, a project like this would not stretch out like this one has as deadlines in the real world would prohibit it. Rarely, do you get to let ideas simmer this long. This is a project for fun, to test my skills, and keep my foot in the door of the theatre world. (Although, at the moment, it feels more like a toe. Need to work on that.)

Season poster. Easy to read, all the pertinent information,

and sends people to website. But I'm thinking it could use more.

As a way of an introduction and offering of services, I redesigned one community theatre’s brochure to reflect something similar to this. Their original had at least seven different typefaces, and at least that many different borders. I’m not talking about variations of a typeface (normal, italics, bold), or different thicknesses of the line in a box. I mean completely different fonts and borders.

All pertinent information was there, it was just a mess of a presentation. And the info was competing with the fonts and borders. For an outfit over 30 years old producing something that can only be kindly described as amateurish … It’s not the best way to introduce your organization.

Despite my deferential tones -- meaning I didn't use the word "amateurish" or anything else in the previous paragraph -- I’ve yet to hear back. Although, I read recently where they’re finalizing next season’s slate … Hmm …