Folley Jazz Series: Final Poster

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is very much a "vanguard" bunch. They are a progressive and modern day big band with a unique history. Since big bands aren't as common today as they once were, I wanted to focus on showcasing the big band aspect of VJO using hyperbole to further emphasize this point. Throughout my process I was very inspired by vintage jazz posters and because VJO has had such a dynamic history and progressive nature, I wanted to take a modern twist on vintage jazz posters to allude to both the past and the present while catering to a young and older audience. In rendering the form of the musicians, I took a highly stylized vector based approach to reference modern design. The sharp angles and wonky geometric shapes reinforces the present day aspect, but it also illustrates the sharp and playful qualities of their music such as in the tall condensed typeface. In contrast, my color pallet and rendering techniques were pulled from early styles of design. The addition of the paint strokes in select areas gives the vector shapes more human qualities, which reinforces the energy of jazz. Lastly, as a subtle homage to the founders of the band I've placed the drummer and the trumpet together in the foreground to represent Thad Jones and Mel Lewis as well as the modern leader, the trombonist, John Mosca.