Poetry is more fun with a disco ball.
Charlotte Lit’s Poetry Nightclub series brings a new feel to the world’s oldest form of storytelling, and I wanted to reflect that in my design. Each quarter in the 2022-2023 calendar year, Charlotte Lit hosted a critically acclaimed poet for an evening performance that went beyond traditional reading and book signing events. Imagine soft lighting, café tables, live music, and adult beverages, including a specialty cocktail. I curated the graphics, promotional items, and specialty cocktails for these events personally to each poet — drawing from their poetry, book covers, social media presence, and more — to create a unique experience for both the audience and the poet. By utilizing specialized color schemes and bold typefaces (and who can say no to a poetry-themed mixed drink?), I took advantage of this hip twist on a poetry reading to reach out to younger audiences who otherwise may not have been as interested in the medium or have heard of the event’s poet. Praised by Charlotte Lit’s followers on social media, the events’ attendants, and the featured poets themselves, these designs brought Charlotte Lit’s newest event into the literary world with style (and sparkles!)
The Posters
I tailored each Poetry Nightclub poster specifically to the guest poet, pulling from their work, their book covers, and their social media, to create a completely unique and eye-catching design for each event.
Chen Chen is an outgoing, fun-loving, party poet, so I chose to focus on fun colors and textures that would make the poster pop. I wanted to create a poster that was just as colorful and unique as his poetry.
I pulled the colors for this design from Erin Belieu's book "Come-Hither Honeycomb" because I felt the deep purple and muted orange were a perfect fit for Erin's down-to-earth poetry and personality.
I chose a floral motif for this poster because of Aimee Nezhukumatathil's love for flowers and the earth. I chose colors that would pay homage to her collection "World of Wonders".
The Drinks
The Jigglypuff
“You are not a jigglypuff, not yet a wigglytuff…” -Summer, Chen Chen
This drink was inspired by Chen Chen’s poem Summer. I loved the idea of a pink drink because it fit with the already created branding, and Chen’s love for Pokemon lent itself perfectly to that, so the Jigglypuff was born.
The Fishbowl
This drink was inspired by Erin Belieu’s poem Pity the Doctor, not the Disease. The line, “I spot the same / tattered goldfish in his smeary bowl / beside the door where he’s glugged along”, was incredibly evocative to me, and the idea of a drink in a fishbowl glass with a gummy fish was an idea I just couldn’t ignore.
“I spot the same / tattered goldfish in his smeary bowl / beside the door where he’s glugged along…”
The Firefly
“They blink on and off, a lime glow to the summer night air, as if to say: I am still here, you are still here, I am still here, you are still here, I am, you are…over and over again—perhaps I could will it to be true.”
Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s collection World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments was so beautiful, thought-provoking, and eye-catching to not be the theme of her Poetry Nightclub’s branding and specialty cocktail. I wanted to create something sparkly — not only to mimic the drink’s namesake, but also because of Aimee’s notorious love for all things glittery.
The Promo
Along with creating the graphics, posters, and specialty drinks, I also created and posted social media posts promoting the events. I chose to use similar language for all of the events, basing my graphics off of the posters and making sure to sell this event, one that would usually only attract a younger crowd, to Charlotte Lit’s primarily 50+ year-old audience.
