Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End) Tour Posters are Looking Sharp
Between October 2018 and September 2019, Holly Gallagher is touring her latest show Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End). Holly is a theatre-maker, director and facilitator who was keen to create a recognisable brand for herself and have promotional materials for her shows that will stand out from the crowd. The goal was to create bold promotional items, but also set a distinct style, colour palette, font choices etc. so Holly’s future shows can follow suit.
The show was produced and commissioned by ARC Stockton, and funded by Arts Council England, and supported as part of the Third Angel Mentoring Scheme 2017 in association with Sheffield Theatres.
Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End) tells the story of three different characters all experiencing stress. The stage is full of buckets which act as a metaphor for stress, at one point in the show, the audience is asked: Imagine you have a bucket; and all the things you have to cope with in life as water going into that bucket. Raise your hand if your bucket is A) Empty B) Half full C) Overflowing.
After discussing the show over a hot drink with Holly, we decided an illustration involving an overflowing bucket would be perfect for the promotional materials. I included the show description ‘A Show About: Stress, fear, pressure ,sadness, mental health, when things are all a Bit Too Much and then the cat goes missing’ within the bucket which is spiralling into an abyss, much like how it feels when you get so stressed you can’t think straight. Holly also received brand guidelines which give her the colours, fonts etc. she needs to continue using her brand online.