The brief was to create imagery for both print and digital media advertising “All in the Timing,” a production of four, one-act comedies by playwright David Ives:

• "Time Flies" follows two mayflies who, on their first date, learn their lives only last 24 hours
 
• "English Made Simple" translates—sans frills—what two people who meet at a party really mean as they politely chat

• "The Universal Language" sees a shy woman and a conman “teacher” forge a genuine connection through his made-up universal language, “Unamunda”



• "Sure Thing" explores redoes of a would-be couple's coffee shop conversation each time a statement veers in the wrong direction

As with any production that features multiple stories in a single show, the challenge was to capture its overall spirit in a cohesive image.

I decided to visually explore the struggle to connect with others alongside the old cliché, "Time flies;” I landed (ha ha) on imagery of two hourglasses with mayfly wings zooming past one another. As they attempt to converse, their speech bubbles briefly connect, uniting the play's title, "All in the Timing," in a single line of text. Adding an element of comedy and absurdity are contrails streaming from behind each hourglass.

The artwork is a digital-analog hybrid. Acrylic paint was used to achieve the subtle textures seen in the sky and speech bubbles, and the hourglasses were painted in watercolor. Micron pen was used for the sand in the hourglasses, and graphite was used to draw the detail in the mayfly wings. Some elements (clouds, stars, header and footer) are vector. All coloring was applied digitally using bold, cheery hues from the client's brand palette, in turn emphasizing a zany, fun tone.

The art appeared in both printed and digital formats — posters, flyers, programs, and social media-ready images — that were dispersed on the university's campus, Facebook, and beyond. The resulting suite of collateral provided a consistent, recognizable, and professional identity for the production.