The time is finally here! The judges will hold a reunion concert at one of the biggest venues in Las Vegas. With this concert they required a poster that represented their heavy rock style and dark atmosphere, to attract only those that can see beyond the bright surface and notice the meaning hidden behind the lyrics. WARNING! Volume not appropriate for school night (hard-of-hearing people welcome, you'll be cured!).

The process to create something suitable for this rock band started with mental mapping. Two random words and anything that came to mind was written down for a couple of minutes, from there, some sketches were born.

Sketching was timed into a minute per sketch to build variety. A concept was not chosen at the time, it was just exploration of all the ideas that presented themselves through the day.

The sketches eventually led to the combination of a couple of elements drawn as two separate concepts. The first draft was then created with a light color scheme and an attempt on perspective that was later dropped to accommodate other elements in the composition.

The feedback for the first draft was as good as the draft itself, let us be completely honest here, this doesn't say "hey! Come to a rock concert!" but those that commented on it were nice enough to not say that and just point out some flaws on the design itself; "the head is too flat, it doesn't look like a head", "the color of the desk is the color of the gavel, make it darker", and "there is a lot of unused space, make sure to emphasize the main element of the composition".

The feedback was a lifesaver, the concept changed completely (as seen above) and it finally started to form a composition closer to the dark theme we were looking for. The main element increased in size and became the focal point with the colors changed to a darker color scheme. Problem was, there is still space around that could be used, and a gavel that was taking too much attention from the audience. Let's make the gavel smaller and add some elements that can turn this into a concept capable of representing the band.

It is a courtroom! Add some chairs, a couple of desks, and leave the gavel next to the strength tester so that they become one as part of the same concept. Now the focus is on the game instead of the giant gavel coming from the right to crush a scared little skull. The chairs however need less opacity and, how about making the atmosphere even darker? Add a somber texture! This way it not only can be chairs for a courtroom but from a different perspective there are graves behind the main elements, playing with the message of it all as a whole.

Now that you followed my monologue and went with me through this process, look closely to the final image above, that is it. Dark color scheme, hues of blue and purple giving it the gloomy emotions looked for by those ready to be judged; sharp edge shapes with rounded ones creating a contrast indicating the dreary hours to come; and a background welcoming you all, please make sure you know a lawyer or two before purchasing the tickets, you might need them!

And remember, you cannot leave until the judge hits the gavel.