School Days: W.C. Fields Shorts

At Arizona State University I was enrolled in Vanessa Vargo’s illustration class which was at 7:40 in the morning. For one of the assignments I created a poster promoting short films starring W.C. Fields. The “W.C. Fields Shorts” program was scheduled at the Memorial Union (MU) Movie House for October. The assignment called for the poster to be 18 by 24 inches (45.7 x 61 centimeters) and printed in two colors. 

I don’t have the thumbnail sketches but the concept was based on showing Fields in boxer shorts. Below are the top hat, headless Fields figure and lettering drawn on vellum. The lettering was based on the Koloss typeface in the Letraset catalog. (The alphabet can be viewed here.) Graphite was rubbed on the reverse side of the vellum then the top hat and lettering were transferred to illustration board and inked. Letratone was adhered over the lettering and parts of the hat. Four dancing figures, wearing different patterned orange shorts, were rendered in ink and gouache. Pantone paper was used for the background. The first version had an orange background. The second version used brown which made the orange shorts pop out.

I entered the poster in the Department of Art’s 1976 Annual Art Student Exhibition which was jurored by Misch Kohn.

Catalog design by Leon Dunn, ASU Graphic Design Workshop
Cover photography by Chris Hornung
Typeface: ITC Tiffany
Dimensions: 7.0625 x 7.4375 inches / 18 x 18.9 centimeters


(Next post on Monday: Casa Grande Neon Sign Park)