— PROJECT NAME
Project title
— ROLE
Art Direction
Graphic Design
Branding
— DATE
20/05/2019
The event celebrated the legacy of John Newton, requiring the identity to feel historical and profound while remaining visually engaging for a contemporary audience. The challenge was to create a design that was clean, classic, and respectful of the subject’s era without looking dated or overly complicated. The solution was to create visual tension by pairing a heavily manipulated, historical portrait with minimal, high-impact modern typography. The goal was to let the portrait do the “heavy lifting” of historical context, while the typography anchors the piece in a modern design sensibility. This contrast suggests that the legacy is still relevant today.
The original historical portrait was isolated and meticulously treated in Photoshop to carve away the background and create a “ghostly floating effect” that dissolves into the canvas. This technique adds depth and focuses all attention on the subject’s face.
The bold, geometric sans-serif typeface for “AMAZING GRACE” was chosen for its clean, confident, and contemporary feel. This purposeful contrast against the 18th-century portrait prevents the design from feeling nostalgic and reinforces its modern relevance.
