This is the second year my services are required for the Kilkenny Arts Festival. It is an honour to be involved in such a quality and exciting event.
The brief this year was very clear: they wanted the impact of last year’s image but without the darkness it had.
So we set off. I collected some visual references and came back with a proposal. Once agreed I started drawing.
Around a couple of weeks later a couple of options were ready. We met and discussed them for a good while.
The customer wanted me to explore the second option. They wanted to get rid of the black T-shirt and try to lift up the colour.
The client felt the image, although conceptually correct, wasn’t strong enough. We decided to go back to the drafting table and look for new ideas.
These are a taste of them:
All the new ideas have fire as a metaphor for the energy that the festival gives you; but the brief I was given clearly stated that I should move from that idea (very prominent in last year image) and quite dark too.
I felt like I was getting to a cul de sac… and the customer was feeling that too. Then I have an idea: let’s change fire for wind.
I give it another go.
The customer likes it but wants to sit on it. I think I’ve nailed it and just wait for the go ahead so I can finish the image. It has been three weeks since we started and we are seriously against time here.
On that evening I get a call. They don’t think it would work. The image is too “soft”. In retrospect I completely see it. It looks like a good image for a Young People Literature Festival not for something of the (multi)dimension of the Kilkenny Arts Festival.
We agree on starting from scratch again. I’ll develop completely new ideas and we’ll talk in a couple of days… Damn it!
So, I get my new ideas back to the customer.
They like the Sunflower idea. Basically a way of representing direction to the light, uplifting as it is a summer flower and colourful too… It worked at all the right levels.
I start developing it. At first, the idea of the face of the flower is an abstract representation of the different disciplines in the festival. I take visual references from Miró paintings.
The client is happy with it but feels is not as strong as it could be. I decide to change the face for an eye which will provide the image with a strong focal point.
At this stage, we know we are onto something. The customer remembers the logo of the Arts Festival used to be an eye (something like 15 or 20 years ago) so we decide to pay a little homage to that image.
A couple of small chances more and we are finished. Hope you like it!
