Artsite3 studios is an industrial unit full of art studios based in Hereford. At the moment, this is where Damhán Alla Art is based. Recently, I have been designing posters for Artsite3’s monthly open studios, which coincide with Hereford First Fridays.
To begin with, my designs explored the physical location and layout of the Artsite3 building. The February and May posters explore the small industrial estate Artsite3 is in (Rockfield Road Industrial Estate), acting almost as a map or directional guide for unsure visitors. March and April reveal information about inside the building.
Having established a degree of familiarity, June and July move into exploring colour and texture. Artsite3 is strongly associated with this sort of cadmium yellow colour, and when I saw Millie Morgan’s photo I just knew I had to have it for a poster. This also coincided with us opening applications for the 2022 Artsite3 Award, which Millie had won in 2021, so it was helpful to use her imagery and draw a subtle link.
July sees the use of chipboard as a background and now adding shapes that are familiar with Artsite’s brand - these sort of strips of colour with text. The August open studio is another iteration of this, this time featuring a wonky and over exposed photo of a wooden wall with gaps in. This was utilizing connotations of uncomfortably hot weather, as by August the heatwaves had left their mark on the psyche of the local community in Hereford.
October and November move back into being more illustrative, with October using a mixed media approach, again back focused on the architecture of the Artsite3 building. November contained more basic imagery due to the larger amount of information that needed to go on the poster. It also acted as a signifier of the tone of the open studios, which became more informal and chaotic into the holiday season.
The September and December First Friday posters were designed by different artists.
Marketing tactics varied month by month, and some of the posters were produced in a way that allowed for infinite expansion, or easy cropping.
The open studios will be continuing into 2023, on the first Friday of every month between 3-6pm. If you want to find out more about these posters, or just have a look at the studio I designed them in, come and visit!