This poster was a result of a project I had, which was to create a fictional holiday poster with a random object tied to the final product. The holiday in question was a Midwinter Festival poster, surrounding a pair of sandals. In order to combat the duality, I went for a Florida-based festival poster, where instead of snow and scarves we had sandals and beach balls. With this in mind, I had come up with a couple of starting thumbnails and information guides.
My initial idea surrounded a mix between typical summer themes - sunglasses, beach wear, and the sun itself - and typical Christmas themes - candy canes, snowmen, and gingerbread men. While some ideas seemed too subtle, and others seemed too direct, one in particular stuck out to me.
The image itself was a snowman in a Hawaiian shirt with snowflakes decorated on it, a Santa hat, sandals, sunglasses, and holding a cocktail in a sunny day. It felt just connected enough to the holiday without feeling too direct. It was something I felt proud of, and I had began work on it immediately.
A few things that I had kept in mind for making the sketch was to find a balance between empty space and filled space. If all spaces were to be filled, there would not be any real direction of the piece itself, and it would clutter the project. If the poster was empty, there would be a lack of direction all together and no idea of what the poster is about.
Along with this, I paid close attention to the colors as well, to portray both the Christmas aspect and the summer undertones, with bright and vibrant blues and cozy reds.
In the end, I am incredibly proud of the final result. I feel like I encapsulated the general idea of the holiday and included the summer idea into it without making the idea stand out as anything strange. Because of this, I am more than excited to continue this career.
