Vancouver Chamber Choir

The 2021/22 concert playbills for the choir needed a fresh new look that could carry over their two-part season cohesively.

Role
Visual Designer
Animator

Agency
OK Dave

Client
Vancouver Chamber Choir

Date
January 2021

THE PROBLEM

Every concert season needs to look distinct from the last. They also need to feel related to the concerts like an extension of the musical art form on paper. How do you keep the seasons looking fresh and unique while also keeping things within the feel of the brand?

THE SOLUTION

Find a way to tie in the previous season’s creative to make the change smoother while also making the creative distinct and memorable. Listen to the pieces and get the perspective of the composers to make sure each playbill translates the music.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir is a non-profit collective that works hard to deliver beautiful choral sounds every year. To help their music reach as many ears as possible, we created a set of playbills and other materials to promote their annual seasons.

Each season should be distinct from the last with some element to ease them together. The previous look focused on a blue background with sets of orange fill overlays to communicate the concert themes. This season’s designs use sets of graphics as well but, instead of overlay fills, we shifted to bold line work to form abstract shapes that convey the essence of each show.

The biggest show for the first half of the season was the holiday show so we went with a calming green and shades of gold to bring a subtly festive vibe to the season. The second half of the season uses the same graphic devices but with a strong winter palette to keep it independent but not fully disconnected.

For the 2021 performances we also created animations that introduce recordings of their live performances. This was a result of the COVID-19 limitations on live performance that year.

  • Together is about how individually we may be fragile but together we can be so much more. To show this, we weaved the lines into a pleasing arc alluding to a basket. A strand of straw isn’t much until you mesh it into something that can carry multitudes.

  • Pärt showcases the talents of composer Arvo Pärt. His music is often minimal and broken into unexpected pieces which we show in the design by breaking up the lines into wisps. A contrast to the symmetrical flows of the other music and designs.

  • Fifty is a celebration of the choir’s fiftieth year of performing. We used an abstraction of the number five to trace out a winding path to signify the journey that they’ve been on.

  • Wassail is this season’s holiday show and, while much of the music has religious content, we wanted the design to feel mostly non-sacred to avoid any offence. This resulted in a form that can be seen as a star, angel or, more abstractly, a tree or a bell.

Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz

  • Bright Moon features conductor Jennifer Tham and the Vancouver Chinese Choir Association. It’s a celebration of how Chinese culture shapes our city. The design reflects the shape of the moon in multiple phases that interlock as if shifting to form something new.

  • Just Society is a story of today’s youth progressing culture and having hope for a brighter future despite the grim climate we live in today. The struggles of opposing generational and classist forces is the focus with a central clash.

  • Dixit Dominus is an epic piece of music from Händel originally composed in 1707. This design takes advantage of the beautiful baroque style that was prevalent back then. The elegant arcs are reminiscent of belcomposto and grow upwards like a sweeping crescendo.

  • Path of Miracles is the story of the great pilgrimage Camino de Santiago in Spain. This pilgrimage has multiple routes that all lead to the shrine of St. James. We focused on that journey with tendrils reaching from many sides all uniting at their one goal.

  • Nordic Sounds brings together multiple conductors under the theme of ‘Nordic’ to guide the compositions. Not knowing what all the final pieces would be like, we leaned into the Scandinavian theme and used the lines to reflect an aurora gliding like sound waves across the page.

Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Bus Shelter Ad
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Bus Shelter Ad

Dixit Dominus was performed at the Orpheum Theatre, a venue that the Vancouver Chamber Choir was proud to be in. We overlayed the concert design on a photo of the Orpheum to showcase the beautiful space and fill the seats. The purple tint was used to unify it with the playbill designs and provide contrast to the graphic and text. We incorporated a QR code for passers-by since COVID brought them into the mainstream.

Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz
Illustration, Graphic Design, Artist, Visual Design, Designer, Animation, 2D Animator, Motion Graphics, Canadian, poster design, playbill design, abstract, conceptual design, concert design, brochure design, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Tina Furesz

Results

The designs were a huge success and the Vancouver Chamber Choir hired us to do the next season’s creative as well. The new format for the brochure was received well by their patrons and the most devoted of them loved that they could see all the designs on one side when it was unfurled so they could hang it up.

Learning Outcomes

It’s rare that I get to work for other artists and it took me a moment to realize I was translating their artful interpretations not their business solutions. It felt more like a collaboration where we were making art together with two mediums. There were of course more practical design solutions like what the brochure and the ads would look like but the rest was a matter of emotion. Once that clicked, I approached the designs more like I would an acrylic canvas, looking for the sweeping motions and impact. This made the next set of playbills that we made for them much more simple to create.