Concert Merch
2017
After an amazing concert by @johnmayer, I was inspired to create artwork for some tour merchandise. I chose to pair elements from John's two songs: 'Emoji of a Wave' and 'Walt Grace's Submarine Test'.
I'm confident that Mayer's fans would love to find merchandise like this on tour merchandise table or website. This concept was sparked by some fan-made merchandise that John shared on his Instagram account. I felt I could further this concept and really produce something that feels well thought out, and beautiful. During the logo design phase, you can see how I slowly broke away from the Rising Sun flag as it felt clunky with such a large rectangle dividing the type. I also moved away from the arched type to improve readability without losing the character this typeface adds to the artwork. The wave icon is the most recognizable element of this design. Although at first you'd just see this as a vectorized version of Apple's wave emoji - the Japanese heritage of the crashing wave compliments John's themes in 'Walt Grace's Submarine Test' considering the music video is set in a small village of Japan.
The story of 'Walt Grace's Submarine Test' sets the listener in an evening, ocean-side setting where the use of pastels, and colour blocking make the background of this illustration very soothing. My colour choice was my way of replicating a soft, 'sunset-over-the-water' look and feel.
The typography in the original artwork John shared was flooded with Brush Script. Instead, I chose to organize some hierarchy of information by leaving Walt Grace in Brush Script, and the remaining type set in Futura. Futura looked like a perfect match to a swooping, bold typeface like Brush Script, especially since they both have such a vintage, and timeless feel.
After sharing this piece with some fans online, there was a lot of interest in where they would be able to get their hands on a print. Either for their offices, or their own t-shirt (like what you see below). I felt this was a good sign that my goal of an exciting piece of merchandise was achieved.
About
John Mayer, Musician
Scope
Merchandise Design, Typography
