(Madison, Wis.) – Planet Propaganda’s poster designs for All the Pretty Horses and the Wisconsin Film Festival will appear as examples of creative excellence in self-promotion in HOW magazine’s October 2005 issue. Planet’s entries will be featured among the 140 winners chosen for HOW’s 18th Annual Self-Promotion Design Awards.
All the Pretty Horses poster was created for High Noon Saloon to promote the transgendered glam-rock band’s concert. Located in Madison, Wis., High Noon Saloon offers more than just “Live Music and Cold Beer.” Its owner Cathy Dethmers has a long history of bringing live rock, punk and grunge music to the Midwest. “The High Noon Saloon wanted to grab attention for this hard rockin’ band and their dramatic, sometimes shocking, stage show,” says Kevin Wade, Planet’s principal/ creative director and the poster’s designer.
“With names like Venus DeMars, Shannon Blowtorch and MadKat, and albums with titles like ‘Dolls with Balls,’ the band has a fun sense of humor that blurs the lines of music, sexuality and performance art. Building on this, we came up with the image of a dual-headed, male horsey wearing mascara. This hand-inked illustration is layered over a torn, bright red heart sliding down the page.” Wade emphasizes that the “illustration transferred directly to the screens and printed in limited quantity. No computers were involved!”
The 2004 Wisconsin Film Festival poster campaign consisted of three, screen-printed “marquee” posters displayed at the eight different venues around Madison’s downtown. Capping off Planet’s four-year role as marketing partner for the successful film festival, the brand and design team donated its time and talents each year to create a new campaign for the annual event. Planet’s 2004 film festival campaign crew included principal/ creative director Dana Lytle, designer David Taylor, copywriter James Breen, screen-printer Rick Love and brand manager Travis Ott.
“In 2004, the campaign concept took on a retro-techno balance that provides both an acknowledgement of the past and a nod to the future,” explains Lytle. “Loosely based on a three-way camera lens, the campaign’s mark has a projection/looking inward quality to it that communicates the nature of the festival and the overall film experience. This was used across a wide range of marketing materials and for the posters; it was further personified using the mark in place of people’s heads. This idea was combined with the poster series’ vote for film theme.”
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Planet Propaganda is a design, advertising and interactive company committed to shaping passion-based brands. Founded in 1989 in Madison, Wis., Planet’s national clients include Gary Fisher mountain bikes, Bretford furniture, and PunchStock royalty-free images. For more information, please visit http://www.planetpropaganda.com.
