Project Log #VCD302 | Blog 5

Before starting the design process for this project, I reached out to Hamish Elliott, the lead vocalist of Salted Ham, to better understand the band’s musical influences and overall approach. He cited a mix of energetic and eclectic bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Sticky Fingers, Arctic Monkeys, and Dire Straits. This immediately set a clear direction for me and I began researching posters from these bands, focusing on those with humorous and unpolished energy. One thing I noticed from looking at these band posters was how they often used simple layouts, contemporary art styles, and cartoon-like drawings to give off a fun, energetic, and rebellious vibe. I took inspiration from this and used similar playful design elements in my own work to appeal to the audience in the same way.

At the same time the visual tone I was aiming for needed to reflect Salted Ham’s fun, slightly absurd, and interactive performance style. To strengthen the link between the band and the poster, I explored Salted Ham’s instagram feed and found it full of personality. A particular photo of the band throwing slices of ham into the audience stood out. It was weird, funny, and summed up everything that makes them unique. I chose to use this moment as the visual centerpiece of my poster. I added a reacting audience to highlight the interactive, chaotic energy of their live performances, hoping to capture a moment that felt real and spontaneous. 

Initially, my approach looked very different. At the beginning of the project, I was inspired by a butcher shop theme. The idea was to create meat-cut illustrations representing each band member, with dangling typography styled like old-school product labels. I began by tracing various meat diagrams, experimenting with their layout, texture, and integration with type. But while the idea was conceptually interesting, I struggled to connect the meat visuals meaningfully to the band’s musical energy and tone. It started to feel forced and too literal, so I made the decision to pivot.

I then explored cartoonifying Instagram photos of the band using online tools. This visual direction felt like a better fit and allowed me to express their personality more organically. I created a few successful test images, but unfortunately lost them due to a technical issue, and most free cartooning tools only allowed me trial images before requiring payment. This setback forced me to rethink my progress again. Eventually, I settled on tracing imagery from their Instagram and referencing pop rock aesthetics from the late ’90s and early 2000s. 

These creative detours and obstacles helped me refine my technical design skills and my ability to problem-solve under constraints. They also helped me focus more on expressive graphic design and how visuals can show a band’s style, mood, and energy. I used simple motion design to animate the posters, drawing inspiration from Lorenzo Etherington’s style, which shows how minimal animation can still create a strong visual impact. I kept the colour palette and movement simple on purpose so that the playful, offbeat personality of the band would stand out and stay at the centre of the design.

They also led me to focus more specifically on expressive graphic design, particularly how visual communication can encapsulate tone, identity, and energy. While motion wasn’t my primary focus in this project, I can see opportunities to expand this concept into animated posters or short video loops in the future. 

Throughout the project, I kept a production timeline and documented each design stage. I sketched several rough thumbnails and created basic digital mock-ups to test compositions, fonts, and colour palettes. While I didn’t storyboard the final concept traditionally, I did visually map out the narrative of the ham-throwing scene to explore timing and spatial flow.