Blue Note Hawaii is a premier music venue and restaurant that features a large range of local and global acts in an up-close, intimate showroom.
As the art director for over 6 years I was in charge of creating admats for every show and producing both digital and print collateral whilst keeping everything in line with the brand guidelines I created. In addition, I did similar work for Blue Note Napa as an Interim Graphic Designer, allowing me to work on their Summer Sessions concerts where I worked with my largest format pieces.
Shows At Blue Note
It all starts with the shows. When an act is confirmed they provide approved assets and I create a digital admat based on the genre and overall feel of the artist(s). Each admat is resized into different dimensions for Facebook events, Instagram reels, and more. Below is a small collection.
With 20-28 shows per month and up to seven resizes per admat I had to learn to design quickly with quality and quantity in mind. Each admat required certain elements (i.e. logo, ticket info, showtimes and dates), but beyond that I tried to treat each similar to an album cover, taking inspiration from artist websites, past albums, and overall “vibes.”
Print Collateral
Over the years I have worked closely with a few different print shops such as Edwards, HonBlue, ProImage, and Aloha Business Center. Printed projects include rack cards, tabloid-sized lineup posters, large 32″ x 40″ posters, vinyl banners, vinyl sticker signage, and step-and-repeats. Working with Blue Note Napa, I was also able to work with massive stage scrims which presented the challenge of scale.
Art Director
Marketing & The Mundane
As the art director I wasn’t just in charge of creating promotional materials for shows, I also worked on materials behind the scenes. Artist hospitality promotion, sales kits for prospective events, menus, in-club signage, and seating charts all need to be designed and distributed in order to keep the club up and running smoothly.
Whilst I was the sole artist in the marketing department, I did bring in an intern. I was able to mentor my them in things like how to put in an order with a print shop, the use of templates to speed up production with repeating elements, and overall techniques to build better designs.
