“Sweeney Todd” Poster Graphic Design Project

In March 2022, Upper School students in Allison Roberts’ graphic design classes were given a unique opportunity to test their computer skills. Roberts, together with Shorecrest’s Creative Director Jon Hoefer, presented the students with a real-world assignment. With Shorecrest’s Celebrate the Arts week as the deadline, the students were given the task of creating their own marketing poster for the musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which will be presented by Shorecrest Performing Arts on April 21-23 in the Janet Root Theatre. 

Acting as “the client,” Hoefer provided necessary information required for the poster itself (dimensions, text, general theme, etc.) The class watched Tim Burton's 2007 movie version of “Sweeney Todd” (starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter) for their initial research and then brainstormed important visual and narrative elements from the story to use in their posters. They also had the option to reach out to Mr. Hoefer to receive mid-project critiques in addition to getting help from Roberts in class. For most of the students, it was their first fully developed project creating imagery and incorporating text in Adobe Illustrator. 

Hoefer worked with a local printer to produce two posters each for the students to proudly display their final poster design in the Upper School hallways of Landy Hall and Charger Commons. 

“I was very impressed with the students’ creativity with this project,” said Hoefer. “Each poster was very well thought out, imaginative, and unique in concept and layout. It was a thrill for me to receive the final files and ultimately seeing them together hanging on the campus walls. I think the students learned a great deal through this project, and we are looking forward to doing similar projects with classes in the future!”

The opportunity to work on a real-life assignment for a client motivated them to do their best work, and they have been excited to see their posters printed and hanging around the Upper School. 

View the student designed posters here.

The students who completed posters were:

Luke Bernstein '22

Liam Booze '25

Zoe Cattran '25

Logan Chang '24

Jaylon Coad '23

Jake Densa '22

Danny Drysdale '22

Reid Harris '23

Akio Jackson '24

Alanis Job '24

Luke Leary '22

Ahmiyan Malcolm '25

Samantha Miller '23

Michael Moten '24

Eliza Preston '24

Sam Reeder '25

Jessica Rosenblum '22

Wes Ryan '25

Vijay Sinha '24

Bella Testa '23

Walker Thomas '23

Payton Thompson '25

Leni Thorpe '24

Chase Waitz-Miller '23

Matthew White '23