Back in University, I was involved with the Drama Society, first acting in productions then going on to create posters for their shows in my final year and after graduation.

The first production I created promotional materials for was Oscar Wilde’s ‘An Ideal Husband’ in Spring of 2018. For the pieces, I focused on the pink letter and brooch which play a prominent role in the scandalous plot.

The next production was in Winter of the same year, Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’.
For this production, there was a desire to incorporate festive elements and the initial concept was of a fireplace mantle lined in holly, with silhouette portraits of each character above. In the end we decided to focus just on the silhouettes and a painting of the sisters, which worked out better on a portrait layout. When it came to the tickets, the client could not decide on which character to choose, so I made 5 ticket designs; one of each sister and one with all four. These became fun collectables between folks who bought tickets for the show!

The society also had a new logo, The ‘Drama Llama’ which they wanted to incorporate into the designs from now on and I also downloaded a font app, ‘Over’, to help speed up the process, and improve the quality of the typography.

In the Spring of 2019 the society stepped back from productions based on classic literature and decided to do a satirical take on Aristophanes’ ‘Lysistrata’, with a strong social commentary on Brexit, which has been a heavily debated and controversial political move in the UK and especially Scotland.

For the posters and tickets, I drew my inspirations heavily from Ancient Greek pottery illustrations and mosaics. For the title font, I used a plain pre-existing font and altered the edges and curves to make it seem more Grecian. I also altered the colour of the Drama Society and the Student Association logos so that they blended with the overall style of the promotional material more.

The latest production was their Winter show of 2019.
Returning to works of classic literature, the society performed Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. Being one of my favourite works of fiction, I was delighted to return to work on the promotional materials for this production. We discussed several designs; Alice at a crossroads in the Tulgy Wood, a map of Wonderland and a peep down the rabbit hole. In the end, we settled on a design which appears to be a look through the keyhole which leads to the gardens in Wonderland. This gave the viewer the sense that they themselves were entering the dreamy world!

For the tickets, I decided to make an illustration of the key to unlock the door, which tied the ticket design in with the keyhole poster. Also, as the Kingdom of Wonderland is ruled by the Queen of Hearts, a label attached to the key tells the holder that they are invited to the production by Her Royal Majesty.

In terms of art style, I felt this was a great opportunity to use my own personal style of illustration. As an aspiring book illustrator, I felt that my style would suit the production, giving the promotional materials a children’s fairy-tale picture book aesthetic!

To keep up to date with Siobhan Anne Luckett Drama Society’s events and performances please go follow their Facebook page!