Subscribe by RSSPortland Swing Fest Poster
Published on February 20th, 2008
For the past six months, I have been working on a side project marketing for the Portland Lindy Exchange. This is an event that happens every other year and swing dancers from all over the country and beyond come to Portland for a weekend jam-packed with dancing opportunities. It has been a challenging and fun project for me. I designed promotional shirts, flyers, web banners and the event shirts. I have been busy posting about the event on swing forums across the country and rallying others to do the same. The list goes on and on.
We are currently in the final stretch. The event is happening March 7-9. With just over two weeks to go, I am switching the focus from national advertising to local advertising. Now is the time to generate new interest in Portland and the surrounding area.
We have come up with a secondary name for the event for this purpose. People who have never tried swing dancing will have no idea what a lindy exchange is. Therefore, to advertise in the Portland community, we are calling the event Swing Fest. We are highlighting the 11 bands that are scheduled to play and the great venues we have lined up. Here’s the poster I put together:
What do you think? I will put together the rest of the exchange materials and post them soon. You will notice this poster looks nothing like the other exchange materials. A different target market called for a different approach to advertising.
If you live nearby, you should check out the event. You do not have to know how to swing dance already, lessons are offered each night before the bands take the stage. You do not have to sign up for the entire weekend either, pick a night and join us.
love the play with the piano keys, i am not sure about the grunged typeface used for the swing fest… seems like it’s too ragged for this event, works well for the sprayed concept like the broadway show ‘rent’ sign but doesn’t seem to fit here.
for some stupid reason it seems like the skyline for portland should be played into the piano skyline area… maybe a sketchline similar to the imagery here:
http://billsharp.wordpress.com/2007/09/16/sketching-downtown-portland-plus-my-sketch-kit/
I like the subtle “11″ that shows up well in the piano keys… could you play with the letter I with a vertical thinline or reflection to hint at the 11 bands at the event, similar to the use of the 11 in the big10 conf. logo… but not quite as grotesque.
Posted on February 26th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Hi Missy,
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I should have mentioned that the event is targeted at getting younger people out. Although swing music is something that appeals to an older crowd, we’ve found that the kind of people that stick around and get good at it are all young. The dance requires a lot of energy. The idea of the poster is to highlight that energy. I realize when most people think of swing dancing they think of classic fonts. So many times I’ve done posters for swing events that match the vintage feel of the dance, but the vintage quality of swing dancing went out the window long ago. Gone are the days that people get dressed up in their vintage suits and dresses. Most people show up in t-shirts and jeans. I felt the grunge font matched the quality of the piano keys and the people that attend.
I actually found that same sketch in my original research. I had the idea of creating the skyline out of the trumpet, trombone, drums, clarinet, upright bass and saxophone. I ended up scrapping the idea because I starting thinking Portland isn’t really known for its skyline and the event really isn’t about Portland anyway. Not to mention, the more instruments I showed the more I thought people would start to think it was a jazz festival. I don’t associate jazz festivals with fun and dancing — I associate them with politely sitting and listening to music.
I’m really entertained that you saw an 11 in the piano keys. I’d like to say that was on purpose, but it wasn’t. I actually designed a version of the poster that was specifically for the Crystal Ballroom portion of the event. They were willing to put up posters for us but wouldn’t post anything that advertised for another venue. So, the band count at that time was actually eight. We added the second venue later for our own posting.
Posted on February 26th, 2008 at 9:10 am
I loved this poster.
I’m not sure who came up with “Swing Fest” but we’re using it in all of our advertising next year to eliminate potential confusion.
This was a great “hook” for people who were outside our normal scene. We actually had a decent size (20+) who showed up and had no interest in dancing. The Crystal had to open up the balcony to let them sit comfortably and watch the show.
Posted on March 17th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Jason,
I’m happy to hear that non-dancers came to the event. The bands were certainly entertaining whether people were dancing or not. I’m also glad that you liked the poster…..it’ll be a fun challenge to come up with something that I like just as much for next year’s Swing Fest.
Posted on March 17th, 2008 at 8:33 pm