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Web Design

Moonlight.  This is what my web site used to look like. The cool sober scheme and the title picture were supposed to fit the catharsis theme. However, it also left a somewhat depressive gothic aftertaste that was reinforced by the cross emblems. That's why I replaced it with the current Flame theme.

Cantilena.  This is the personal web site of a friend of mine, who performs as a professional singer and flutist. The graphical design is by me, the actual HTML implementation by Patrick Moor. The logo is meant to represent a musical note as well as the initial of the singer's name.

Public Relations

Aegel Jerwanu.  A mascot for Jervaine, the fictional country between Germany and France where Jovian is spoken. The black linework is the geographic outline of the country, split into its three provinces Ausaedsa (Alsace), Moseola (Moselle) and Siovader (Black Forest). The name Aegel Jerwanu simply means "Jervan Eagle".

Poster Design: Dvorak

These arrangements were intended to be used as both hand-out flyers and posters for a concert of Dvorak's Requiem in 2002 by the Academic Choir of Zürich, where I've been singing for several semesters. The designs are presented in the chronological sequence of their evolution, the last one being the final candidate.  

As it turned out, it didn't make it to the actual poster, since another choir member's design eventually prevailed. Meanwhile, I am happy about this outcome, seeing as my submission was woefully inadequate in many ways. Anyway, the competition taught me a few valuable lessons about poster design. For instance, I had placed way too much focus on personal aesthetics, thereby neglecting the important roles of a poster: To stick out, to deliver its message, and to be remembered. In retrospect, the stuff just looks downright naïve. I'll do better next year.

Tombstone:  My first draft. The cross theme is very dominant in Dvorak's Requiem, so I figured it would make a good background. Luckily, someone made me realize how much it looked and felt like a tombstone. It probably would have scared away even our most regular listeners.  ;-)

Cerulean Bar:  A lighter take on the cross theme, much more useable than the Tombstone, making use of my Jovian font. However, the rectangular design and archaic typeface didn't represent our young choir accurately.

Vertical Humana:  Though the most important words Dvorak and Requiem were very large, they didn't immediately spring to the eye due to their place within the background, and their vertical arrangement made it harder for the eye to parse. Bad idea.

Ascension:  A bit too verbose... and the ascending figure wrongly implied some religious intentions. At least I could salvage it for the design of this web site. For the record, neither I nor the choir are not affiliated with a church or sect.  ;-)  The gradient background and detached text layer still make it look very amateurish.

Flame:  The final candidate, composed at the very last day before the deadline... and it shows.  =(  In several ways, it's probably the least professional layout of this project, reminiscent of a child's five minute job in PowerPoint. First of all, the font (Humana Bold) is badly legible and looks messy from a distance. While it does convey the intended feeling of warm calming homeliness, it also suggested misleading feelings of intimacy or spirituality. Furthermore, it was neither eyecatching nor intriguing or particularly memorable. Finally, the information was presented in an unhierarchized and unremarkable way, making far too little use of the wide range of text sizes usable.

Poster Design: Hexen

These arrangements were intended to be used as both hand-out flyers and posters for a witch-themed concert in 2003 by the Academic Choir of Zürich. The design was elected winner by a narrow margin in the choir-internal competition, and implemented successfully. Wheee!  =D

The improvement of the general impression over last year's campaign is dramatic. Not only does the photograph impart a higher level of sophistication to the layout, but the choice of fonts was also much more level-headed than before. The hierarchy of information is present, but still not clear enough. Again, there is room for improvement for next year.

Pale:  Featuring Nil, a friend of mine who patiently sat through a two-hour photo shooting for these pictures. Thanks again, Nil!  :o)

Harsh:  The final candidate, also with Nil as the model. The shadow play on the cheek is what makes this version more effective than the latter.

Poster Design: Mozart & Poulenc

These arrangements were intended to be used as both hand-out flyers and posters for a witch-themed concert in 2004 by the Academic Choir of Zürich. The design lost out against a competitor in 45:46 votes, after several Palm Beach-esque recounts. Just my luck.  =P

On the upside, I am very content with the way this project turned out. Although there no longer is a photograph involved, the smooth integration of text and graphics works nicely, and the whole layout makes a much more professional impression than my previous work. Looking forward to the next project.

Fox/Pine:  The final candidate. I simply found this color scheme the most effective, balanced and pleasing of the ones I tried out. As it turned out, a majority of the choir experienced a visceral reaction along the lines of "it looks like a pizzeria sign!" at first exposure, though. At that time, it was too late to submit other color schemes for voting. Grrnh... Note to self: More preliminary audience testing next time.

Cerulean/Moss:  A bit too bland for my tastes... might have worked well in summer, though.

Tangerine/Purple:  A bit too garish for my tastes... but I received some rather passionate reactions in its favor. Who knows, maybe it would have made the competition.

Tilted:  A geometric variation of the basic layout. The fine print is angled to match the slopes of the color fields. I discarded it in favor of the basic layout for being somewhat too busy and unstable.



© 2005 by Christian Thalmann