Every year I make a design for the event Lindy Harvest, a weekend-long dance workshop with a rustic theme. We focus on the grassroots nature of the swing dance community in Alberta, and try to include rural and natural elements throughout. For the last three years I’ve gravitated toward illustration to promote this event: here’s last year and the year before.
Moving away from the hand-drawn look, I made a digital illustration this year. This design is meant to resemble an old-fashioned farmer’s almanac, but with modern/minimalist twist. The hands are a nod to the unique and relaxed hand hold in the Lindy Hop dance; the moon speaks to the Harvest Moon Ball, a famous dance contest once held in Harlem and that Sugar Swing recreates at each Lindy Harvest.
The design started out as a sketch, which I then scanned and traced. I wanted just a bit of asymmetry here and there.
Watch for the old almanac design to appear on a t-shirt! If you’re a fan of dance or live jazz music, you can learn more about Lindy Harvest over here.