Scope

Poster Design
Art Direction
Typography

Introduction

Poster design to advertise Travesties - a Tom Stoppard play that discusses social satire, revolution, and art & politics during World War I

Travesties is a play that follows the often-faulty memories of Henry Carr, an elderly man who spent time in Zurich, Switzerland, during the First World War. At that time, the city was also inhabited by several revolutionary thinkers, including modernist author James Joyce; founder of Dada, Tristan Tzara; and pre-Russian revolution Vladimir Lenin. Travesties follows Carr’s interaction with these men, often shaped by his mixed feelings about a production of The Importance of Being Earnest - where he, Carr, played the leading role and James Joyce acted as a business manager.

16x20 Final Poster

The Process

Since the play features historical figures like Tristan Tzara - the founder of Dada, and Vladimir Lenin, I was drawn to visual cues like Dada's typography and collaged imageries, as well as Russian Constructivism and Russian propaganda posters (I'm also a huge fan of these design movements). I thought these images reflect the play's themes well, like class, politics, art and revolution.

The paper tear, the multiple layers of text, and the collaged faces of Lenin, Tzara and Joyce hint at the parody and confusing nature of the play, and that there's literally multiple layers to the story.

Early idea sketches that celebrate Dada and Russian Constructivism

Beginning to End - Process

Detail shots

Animated Poster

I then reimagined the poster as an animated piece. Naturally, I played with the paper tear on the poster and experimented with a stop-motion look for the face collage. The result is an animation as funky and multi-layered as the static poster!