The projects in the Experiments in print series are all poster designs, originally produced digitally using Adobe Illustrator. The purpose of Experiments in print was to select a printmaking medium that would better suit the graphics of each poster, and enhance their visual impact. As such, the series was an opportunity to familiarise myself with the technical and aesthetic qualities of different printmaking techniques, and to demonstrate the importance of the medium in the finished product.

This series of posters was inspired by Sérgio Mendes's version of Mas que nada, which became an international hit following it's release in 1966. The song is of the bossa nova genre, a Brazilian type of jazz which emerged in the 1950s and 60s.

The colour palette, typography and graphics are intended to convey the undulating tune, buoyant rhythm, and general vibrant optimism of the song. The abstracted coastal setting and use of yellow, green, blue are more specific references to Brazil.

The production of the poster designs as linocut prints not only rendered them more vivid and textured, but also enabled variations on the same theme to be produced, by reworking the same set of the linoleum blocks and printing them in different combinations.

supervision: Michael Ochs, Vakalo Art & Design College

printing: linoleum cut relief printing, Camberwell College of Arts