When you first start out as a designer the goal is to design something big, REALLY BIG. A 6-sheet poster that decorates the high-street, or a 96-sheet billboard that is longer than a bus…
But what about designing something big that can be seen up-close and personal? Art that not only has a visual purpose, but has a third dimension and has a physical presence. At the end of 2017, I got the opportunity to do just that with our Client, Dale Farm, and their sponsorship of the Peter Pan pantomime at the Grand Opera House in Belfast City Centre.
The task? To design a concept that would translate elements of the Peter Pan story, but also advertise Dale Farm and their products in a fun and friendly manner, around the physical space in the main foyer. This included the stairs, the merchandise stand, as well as the large confectionary stand and the partitions that surround it.
My initial thoughts were to use the Neverland island and a seascape scene as the visual and the client then added the idea of turning the confectionary stand into Captain Hook’s ship.
Once we had a concept agreed, we arranged a site visit to discuss bringing my design to life. It’s difficult to know how practical the design would be without seeing the location in the flesh, from all angles. We were fortunate to work with BlackSheep on this project and with their years of experience, they had the knowledge of what would work best for what we required.
There was a lot to learn from this project. It was the first time I’d used Pythagoras' Theorem since studying GCSE maths over a decade ago, which proved vital in ensuring that the design aligned around the corners as you can see below.
There is always a buzz around seeing your design printed and in full use, regardless of what form of media it uses. And no matter how many visual mock-ups or small-scale paper replicas I made, nothing was going to compare to seeing the finished product in full use.
