BUILDING ANTICIPATION
THROUHGH FUN KEY ART
THROUHGH FUN KEY ART
For Auburn Hills Public Library their annual Battle of the Books program is a large scale undertaking in which they are able to connect with hundreds of students throughout the schools in their community. To level up their program they commissioned a new custom piece of key art and branding to capture the attention of the student teams.
The art was to be: a celebration of reading, serve as a tool the library could use to build anticipation for program, and most importantly be something fun that the kids would be excited about.
As with all my projects after the initial project outline meeting and contract, the first stage of work is sketching. Originally the library was planning on the new theme of the program revolving around boxing, champions, and the spirit of competition. I got to work creating a series of initial designs that embodied this direction for the library to pick between.
However, despite being happy with the designs, at an in-house team meeting the youth department pivoted the project direction and felt they now wanted to get back to the original theme of the program from when it first launched: a Medieval fantasy theme. So, we scrapped the initial project and started a new one pursuing this direction.
Bringing a library's
vision to life.
vision to life.
We explored various fantasy themes focusing on knights & dragons and arrived at the idea of the classic shield crest being held by a dragon. This embodied the original medieval theme the library pivoted to and had a sense of history by using the crest motif. The dragon was drawn in a rounded welcoming style to appeal to all ages.
Along with the key art, we created a series of files, guides and assets the library could then use in all the various marketing materials they would go on to create in-house. For this program, they used these assets to create stickers, an enamel pin, T-shirts, and other paraphernalia to give away to the student participants.
The students loved the designs. The new art and branding helped the library staff to reach more students and increase their participation numbers.
