Poster Design

Siri Nadler's process of creating the poster for Alchemy/Blues began with her initial impressions about the world of the play and the characters that inhabit that world. Based upon this initial analysis, she created a series of sketches in which she explored how images might embody the main themes of the play. Her process also involved determining the texture and color that would best capture the play. These explorations resulted in the final design for the poster.

© Copyright 2002 Siri Nadler Graphic Design

Initial impressions

Siri's early ideas emerged from her sense of the world of the play. She says, "My first impression of the play was that it was extremely lonely and atmospheric. The atmosphere had a tremendous impact on me. The hot summer swamp felt like a mythic place . Siri's attention settled next on the characters. She was particularly attracted to the character of Simone. The designer recalls, "I was very interested in her relationship to the dead man. I particularly like the fact that the house almost embodies their relationship." Simone's deeply conflicted feelings about the other characters in the play seemed central to Siri, who "felt the enormous ambivalence she has about being free and her ambivalence about her connection to the community."

Images

Based upon these initial impressions of the play, Siri searched the script for images that might inform her design. Some of her early inspiration came from the references to bones. She reports,  "To give myself a point of reference, I researched bones in history and in art. I began to do thumbnails of bones, houses and clothing made of bones." Part of this process involved meetings with the director, Juanita Rockwell, to see how these ideas corresponded to the director's reading of the play. Siri initially created twenty-five thumbnail sketches and brought six sketches to show Juanita Rockwell. Juanita and Siri discussed the theme of magic, witchcraft and connection to the earth.

The designer also explored her interest in the central female character, Simone, through a series of sketches: "My first idea was to have Simone be synonymous with the water -- this burned out textural place, illustrating her connection to the earth. Then I explored a psychological approach.  But this approach failed because it didn't adequately illustrate her inner struggle." She also sought insight from the other theatre artists. Daniel Ettinger's set design helped clarify her ideas about how to capture Simone's struggles: "Once I saw the set, something gelled. The elements seemed to come together in a clearer way. So I came in and looked at the set model. I knew immediately that the moon was the husband."

Just as the set design inspired her ideas around Simone's struggle, the play summary from New Dramatists inspired Siri to depict the world of the play through the fallen branches and sticks imagery on the poster.

Texture and color

Siri found a good deal of texture in the play, from the bones to the ghostly feeling to the burned out bayou. She tried to express this texture in a subtle way in the background of the poster.  But she "kept the typography extremely simple and straightforward." Because the poster was small, "readability was a considerable issue."

The choice of color was a challenge for the designer as she "kept shifting back and forth from blue to red." Blue seemed fitting because the title implies something death related. But she also found that "there's a great deal of passion and life affirmation in the story, so red seemed to be more appropriate." The designer hoped to express Simone's struggle with two conflicting feelings: "the passion to be free and the passion to make some resolution with her dead husband."

Final design

The final decision of the poster was based upon eight different comprehensives that Siri created out of her earlier sketches. She recalls "Each of them showed the woman looking up at the moon/husband in a searching way, but within her body the poster illustrated different themes. One sketch had four hands to symbolize the community of the four women. One had the bayou trees and the house to symbolize place. One had rotted out hands to symbolize both the women and the place. One had illustrations of fallen trees and twigs." Finally she "decided to simplify it and make the illustration suggestive of struggle." The poster selected for the production reflects Siri's philosophy of poster design. She explains:

Similar to a book cover design, a poster is a vehicle to get your audience interested in the subject. It should not and cannot tell the whole story. If the design suggests the feel of the theme, it will be a more evocative and successful piece. Leave something for the audience to complete.

Siri's final design captures an essential dynamic of the play. For her the poster "speaks to the struggle. It speaks to her yearning. The upturned face speaks to Simone's desire for freedom and independence."