Case study
Down for the Count
Down for the Count Swing Orchestra are London's hottest Big Band. They were due to perform at Hideway Jazz Club as part of their upcoming UK tour. In the run up to the initial tour date ticket sales had been low, so DftC decided a drastic change was required. They were performing the same songs and using previous marketing colaterol was years old. Plus, a member of the group had recently left and had since been replaced; all the more reasons for a branding refresh.The music was going to be that of Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, therefore the band manager's brief was for a complete branding revamp. He wanted a vintage live jazz feel, and to use live performance imagery of the new band line up. Taking inspiration from classic photos of Fitzgerald and Armstrong, and from the photos provided, I artworked the images to include key members of the band performing together. I then used these images to create assets for print (flyers, posters and programmes), web (on the band's website, on Hideaway's website), email newsletters (Mailchimp), plus social channels (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter).
Within weeks the Hideway show was sold out as a result. Also, the client was so happy with the job I'd done, they shared the collaterol I'd created to promote their tour at other upcoming venues.
1. Old design collateral
The main problems with this old tour imagery were that one of the members of the group had left and since been replaced, but mainly that this imagery/style was old, static, and simply needed a refresh.
2. Inspiration
I started by getting inspiration from the jazz royalty themselves; Ella and Louis. Researching their photography I felt they always come across in their imagery as personable and dynamic, and that is the vibe I wanted to inject into DftC's new collateral.
3. Artworking
Rather than focusing on all members of the band equally, I wanted to focus on either 1 or 2 main members of the band and convey the feeling of the live show. I wanted to bring the main players to the forefront and bring more focus on their faces/instruments being played.
I started with this image (main singer):
And combined it with this image (this trumpeteer would always be towards the front of the stage):
To create this image:
This was the image that would be used in all the marketing collateral.
4. Printed poster
Testimonial
"I really love the new look. Louis was an absolute pleasure to work with and we've had lots of lovely comments about the artwork and we want to go ahead and use this artwork for all our concerts and events this year"
- DFTC Music Director, Band Manger & Lead Pianist Mike Paul-Smith
5. Social assets
6. Web assets
