We got some exciting news, The Barba Club were turning two and wanted a party to celebrate. They had a laneway, interest from local companies and a fantastic community who wanted to come and celebrate. We met Andrea and talked about what Bootgum could do to help. What she really wanted was a piece of art that would reflect the fun of a festival atmosphere that could also be a souvenir to those who attended.
So what's the party going to be like?
Andrea wanted something that would reflect her Argentinian heritage. Something that's bright and vibrant with beer and tacos. There was no brief outside that, which gave us a lot of room to play with the design. I started sketching a big pirate's booty, a treasure chest filled with beer to anchor the picture on the lower left. For the rest of the composition everything is centered around that treasure chest. The pirate skeleton is leaning into it, the bubbles are escaping from it and the sand sits on the same perspective drawn by the chest. The pirate's hat balances the chest, again following the same perspective lines and breaking up the flow of water escaping the chest.
The design was planned early to be attached to shirts sold at the event, but we identified it would be used to promote the event online. It needed to be bold enough to work on smaller screen sizes, but also as a t-shirt.
A celebration of tacos and beer. We wanted something that would be hard to miss and easy to agree with. The design itself went through a few iterations, starting as a pencil sketch and then drawn digitally using Adobe Fresco. When preparing the design for the shirt print, we were able to find a local high-quality printer that ensured the design didn't feel 'stuck on'. The black was removed so that only the colour sections were printed, making the shirts more breathable and comfortable.
Promoting a party
The Barba Club has a fantastic following on Instagram. Using the design and photos (taken while we were getting our hair cut), we promoted the event through Instagram on their behalf. It was a fantastic, community-focused way to promote something special for The Barba Club while making sure regulars, local businesses and friends felt 'in the know'. The design was also turned into a series of flyers, printed cheaply, to distribute at the shop as well as to local businesses to let them know about the event.
The photography helped us develop a suite of images to not only promote the event, but something that could be used to help visitors find the shop, advertise vacant positions and show off Andrea doing what she does best (stylish haircuts).
