I jazzed up a flyer for a NY music event.
The Harlem Sessions is a weekly live jazz event, located in Harlem, NY, and hosted by jazz luminary Marc Carey. The sessions aim to build and explore a new common repertoire, with original arrangements through ensemble work. Having built a solid following over their first two years, I was tasked to create a new poster/flyer/social media banner design, to coincide with a celebratory birthday event for the venture.
Objectives:
To create an engaging standalone communication, and a new visual style for the Harlem Sessions.
Results:
Increased social media engagement around the event.
From Trad to New.
The brief was to avoid and transcend typical tropes associated with jazz-associated communications (sepia photography, retro typography, ornate borders), and present The Harlem Sessions as a contemporary, accessible and engaging experience.
The existing event collateral and flyer design exhibited many of these traits, from old-style typography to sepia imagery. A large part of the Harlem Session’s plans for expansion, is to position the even as modern, contemporary and relevant, as attracting a younger crowd could prove a crucial element to the burgeoning brand’s success. This outreach would be an initial attempt to create a style and story for the event.
![The Harlem Sessions](https://bunbury.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/11536516_124074837926534_6817007639169997704_o.jpg)
Previous flyer for The Harlem Sessions
Uptown Funk.
Given my own love of the genre, I always perceived jazz as dynamic and vibrant, as opposed to staid or traditional. Therefore my concept was to use bold colour and typography, to create movement, energy and excitement.
I took inspiration from the theatre design work of Paula Scher, and the marketing design from early Spike Lee films – images full of life, colour and energy.
Sourcing an image that presented the genre in a suitably contemporary context, I combined this with angled, jarring type which in itself creates an urban environment within the communication, making it feel very metropolitan to typify New York.
![the-harlem-sessions-flyer-design-greg-bunbury-2](https://bunbury.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/the-harlem-sessions-flyer-design-greg-bunbury-2.jpg)
Key messaging and information lies juxtaposed with quotes, taglines and words, drawing the viewer in to decipher the image, and get a flavor of the event itself.
Services:
Creative Direction
Poster Design
![flyer design harlem sessions](https://bunbury.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/flyer1_amended.jpg)
The Harlem Sessions flyer front & reverse by Greg Bunbury
![flyer1_amended_reverse](https://bunbury.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/flyer1_amended_reverse.jpg)
![flyer1_final_fb](https://bunbury.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/flyer1_final_fb.jpg)
The Harlem Sessions flyer Facebook cover photo