Every year the family business Sugar Swing puts on a roaring New Year’s party, and my job is to promote it! There’s a different theme every time, and this year we sought to recreate Manhattan’s hottest night club in the 30’s: The Savoy Ballroom! The Savoy is where jazz legends like Count Basie and Chick Webb battled their bands — and where swing dance was enjoyed and developed.
I designed a bunch of marketing pieces, but there are a couple things I liked best. My favourite was the above photo banner. It features an image of an actual Savoy dance in progress. This banner served as a fun backdrop for guests to take photos and selfies. Here’s what the whole thing looks like:
Another piece I was quite happy with was the poster. More so than the banner, this shows the vibe of the event.
There’s a hint of Art Deco happening in the border and colours; however, in the fonts and dancing figures I wanted to capture the more abstract lines and shapes of jazz culture. So by fusing the two looks I aimed to borrow the swank of Art Deco (because it was a fancy New Year’s party) while acknowledging the roots of swing.
To finish up, I’ll leave you with some Blue Steel:
