Students Market “Mamma Mia!”

In February, Shorecrest Upper School students in Allison Roberts’ intro and advanced graphic design classes were given the opportunity to get real world graphic design experience. For the second year in a row, students worked with the Upper School Performing Arts Department to design a show poster for the spring musical. On April 13-15, during Celebrate the Arts Week, Shorecrest students will perform “Mamma Mia!” The hit jukebox musical has so many fun elements from which to draw inspiration. The poster design assignment was the first time some students worked with a client who had specific needs and deadlines. It allowed students to fully develop a project using Adobe Illustrator while learning design principles like composition, color theory, typography and visual hierarchy. 

Acting as “the client,” Jennifer Marquis, Shorecrest Arts Producer, presented the information and guidelines required for the poster (logo, dates, dimensions, theme, etc.) For a little research the class watched the 2008 movie of “Mamma Mia!” directed by Phyllida Lloyd and starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried. Roberts and the students then brainstormed ideas that included plot points, setting, architecture and the show environments. They also discussed what props were important in the plot that might transfer well to a poster. Students each came up with three working concepts. Once a concept was approved they began to develop their poster design. 

Although students were given complete design freedom for their poster they had to consult with Jon Hoefer, Shorecrest Creative Director, to be sure they were meeting the client’s required needs. The students also learned how to present their projects in a professional manner. When their initial design was complete they crafted an email to Mr. Hoefer where they introduced themselves and asked for insight. Mr. Hoefer then provided individual feedback on each design. 

Ms. Roberts commented, "Mr. Hoefer gave valuable design feedback throughout each student's design process. When working with a client with special goals and deadlines to be printed, sometimes they think their design is done, but after initial feedback they can rework their design to make things visually clear. He also helped the students understand how color worked for printed pieces. There is a big difference between designing for a printed end product vs. something that will only be displayed on the computer. In class the students learned about crop marks, color bleeds, and outlining text to maintain their unusual type fonts."

"I truly enjoy being a part of this 'real-life assignment' with the students," added Mr. Hoefer. "I am always amazed by the students’ creativity and how each poster has a very unique look and feel. It's fun for me to see what fonts, colors and graphic elements they choose to include in their piece. I thought the students did a wonderful job this year capturing the essence of ‘Mamma Mia!’"

Alanis Job ‘24 wanted to be sure she understood the best font colors to use. It was important to make sure everything was readable. The ability to play with color was a nice change from the “Sweeney Todd” show poster she created last year which had a darker mood.

This was also the second year that Vijay Sinha ‘24 has done this project. He commented that last year’s design was more straightforward. He enjoyed the technical challenge of drawing Greek architecture.

"Working for a client changes everything because you need to meet their needs,” shared Garrison Davis ‘26. “I wanted to stay away from making it look like a movie poster. This was my first time using Adobe Illustrator, and I also learned the importance of text size and how it mattered to the final size of the printed piece."

Shorecrest worked with a local printer to have three printed copies made of each poster design. One poster from each student is displayed in Landy Hall to help promote the show. Another group of posters is hanging in the Janet Root Theatre throughout the performance dates. Students saved their remaining poster for their personal portfolios.

“Mamma Mia” performances were in Shorecrest's Janet Root Theatre on April 13-15, 2023. View photos from dress rehearsals here: