DAVIDSON COMMUNITY PLAYERS: SEASON 6I

Someone sees a poster in a coffee shop. They drive past a digital marquee. A friend shares a Playbill cover on Instagram. Maybe a postcard shows up in the mail and sits on the kitchen counter for a week before you finally buy tickets.

None of those pieces are the performance, but they're all part of the experience.

That's what I kept thinking about while designing the 61st season for Davidson Community Players.

Nine productions spread across three venues, and each one deserved its own personality. Rock of Ages needed to feel loud. Evita needed to feel dramatic. Actually had a completely different tone than White Christmas, and Shrek Jr. obviously wasn't trying to reach the same audience as The Lifespan of a Fact. The fun was figuring out how each production could be itself without the season feeling disconnected.

The thread that tied everything together became Where Will the Theater Take You?

Once that idea landed, it started influencing more than just the marketing headline. We created custom passport stamps inspired by each show's setting. I designed an accordion-fold map that treated every production like another stop along the journey, placing each title in the world where its story takes place. (We may have stretched geography just a bit to give Far Far Away a home near Scotland. I don't think the cartographers will mind.)

Beyond the campaign itself, I developed all the show art along with digital marquees, theater posters, Playbill covers, social media graphics, postcards, direct mail, and magazine spreads.

Looking back, I think what I enjoy most about projects like this is not making one piece I'm proud of, but creating enough thoughtful touch points that, together, make the whole season feel intentional.