In collaboration with the St. Louis Community College – Meramec Theater department, my Graphic Design IV class was given the opportunity to design a poster for their Spring 2023 Season Show, “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams. Out of all of us in the class, only one of us were to be chosen for the main poster design, however, that was decided based on the client’s preferences and vision for the show.
“Man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter, and none of those instincts are given much play at the warehouse!” -Amanda Wingfield, "The Glass Menagerie"
For my primary inspiration, I chose the fire escape that is prominent throughout the story. “The Glass Menagerie” follows the story of a poor family of three living in the Central West End area of St. Louis, in which they live in a run-down apartment with only a fire escape as the entrance and exit. The fire escape plays an important role in the story to give both the visual and metaphorical feeling of “entrapment”, as Laura, the main focus of the play, is both physically and mentally disabled so she cannot leave the apartment easily.
Another important part of the story is Laura’s collection of small, glass animal figurines, her favorite being a unicorn. Her figurines both represent her childish nature as well as her fragility, them being made of glass and her favorite being damaged at a turning point of the play. While I did not feature any of the glass animals, including her favorite, the unicorn, I did want to use a color scheme that evoked a glass-like feeling. That being, I chose a light blue and darker blue to represent this as well as a pink accent color.
The story takes place during the 1920s and 30s, which while the director of the play did not necessarily focus on (having wanted anyone to be able to relate, regardless of when they grew up or what they’ve experienced), I used as a guideline for the title typography. For this, I chose “Norman Stencil”, an Adobe font, which bears a striking resemblance to many of the typefaces used at the time the play took place.
My poster was not ultimately chosen, as it did not fit the director’s vision, however, it the design was still praised both by the director of the show and my graphic design professor. The director stated it reminded him of an Alfred Hitchcock movie poster, as one of these praises.
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