How can design create community where there wasn’t one before?: The Art of the Party Poster and Flyer Event Recap
Safe spaces for expression and individuality are imperative for marginalized communities (especially after January 21st of this year). Over the years, the dance floor became one of those safe havens. A place to come together in self-expression and enjoyment. But how do you create that space? How do you let your network know you’re building something just for them? How can design create community where there wasn’t one before?
On June 15th, designers, Braulio Amado (Graphic Design and Illustrator), Oscar Nn and Mohammed Fayaz (of Papi Juice), came together to talk with Isabelia Herrera (Music Editor, Remezcla) about process and inspiration for their LGBTQ party posters, and how those designs helped bring together a community.
Braulio Amado
Braulio started dabbling in graphic design (or at least playing with Photoshop) in High School. He explained that he really liked punk music and his way of getting into the scene was asking bands if they wanted a website or a flyer for their shows. His goal wasn’t to be famous or to achieve success, but to get into a community. “It was very important to me to meet all these people who are creative in their own way. As I met more people, we started playing in bands, and I started designing the covers for our albums, I slowly understood I wanted to be a graphic designer. So, I went to school for graphic design.” Braulio was still doing artwork for all these local bands as him and his friends tried to develop a small community in Lisbon. In his last year of college Braulio received a scholarship to SVA, which is what brought him to NYC.
Braulio started dabbling in graphic design (or at least playing with Photoshop) in High School. He explained that he really liked punk music and his way of getting into the scene was asking bands if they wanted a website or a flyer for their shows. His goal wasn’t to be famous or to achieve success, but to get into a community. “It was very important to me to meet all these people who are creative in their own way. As I met more people, we started playing in bands, and I started designing the covers for our albums, I slowly understood I wanted to be a graphic designer. So, I went to school for graphic design.” Braulio was still doing artwork for all these local bands as him and his friends tried to develop a small community in Lisbon. In his last year of college Braulio received a scholarship to SVA, which is what brought him to NYC.
For Braulio, what he liked most about creating those music posters is the freedom of different styles, and the ability to do pretty much whatever he wanted. Because of this, Braulio kept doing it on the side of his full-time job. Over the years he had done so many, it became his passion. He then joined Bloomberg Business Week — mostly because they wanted someone to do something fast, scrapie and experimental, as he says. The job requirements were to read articles and react with drawing or collages. While at Bloomberg, there was one day each week that there was considerable downtime — while waiting for the magazine to go to print — where Braulio was looking for something to work on.
Serendipitously, Braulio’s friend, Ana, who worked at Good Room, asked him if he could help design a poster for an event, he hadn’t listened to EDM before, but the idea interested him and he had the time. Ana was trying to elevate Good Room from just a club; She was trying to book a lot of trans-people, women, queer nights, etc. That mission resonated with Braulio, “it became really cool to do the posters and try to add something artistic to it. I had to do so many every week, that it was a way to explore [creativity] every week.”
At the same time Braulio was crafting party posters, he and his friends started their own party in NYC called OWL. OWL’s claim to fame is that it’s a event where weird things happen, like drunk caricatures, therapist sessions, disco party, etc., basically, just a fun night to celebrate every month.
Currently, Braulio is being commissioned to create illustrations for NYT, Wired and more. His work for music has also elevated: “I was doing artwork for small bands, and one day people started asking me to design covers for musicians like Beck, Frank Ocean, A$AP Rocky and Washed Out.”
Oscar Nñ and Mohammed Fayaz
Oscar Nñ and Mohammed Fayaz are organizers of a space and art collective called Papi Juice (brought to life by Mohammad). Papa Juice began as a monthly party, cofounded with Adam Rhoads, out of the frustration with gay spaces that didn’t represent them (LGBTQ rights were born out of gay nightlife, so it makes sense that a fight for safe spaces for POC within the community also comes from nightlife).
Papi Juice is a party with a mission, it’s a celebration of queer and trans people of color and the folks who love them. It features artists, performers…(mission statement). It’s created to be an escape from the normative, everyday life and a space to connect with community.
Oscar and Mohammed wanted to make sure that people could get a good idea of what kind of night it was going to be based on what the flyer looked like; “We wanted a flyer to represent the spaces we wanted to be a part of.” The first flyer Mohammed designed for Papi Juice (in 2013) was created in Google Docs; “We actually all connected on Tumblr, so the images we used in the flyers were ones we found on Tumblr.’ As the party started the team started noticing that aesthetic wasn’t the intention we wanted to create. The party isn’t just for one kind of person, its for a much larger community.
Mohammed created his first flyer for Papi Juice, utilizing different skin tones and different textures. The characters he creates are inspired by people going to the party — as Mohammed pointed out in one of his posters “Homeboy in the middle has hid crack out and his belly showing” something you wouldn’t see on a party flyer. Showing that the party was for everyone, not just pointing out difference. The team played the festival and after party for Afropunk and at the event something clicked, Mohammed realized his work was too busy, that less was more. By vol 15 Mohammed had charged vibes: Heavy on the text and promo, but simple illustration. For Vol 19 he went back to a more lush look but better design. As Mohammed pointed out, “Every flyer was a learning moment on how to center the talent.”
Mohammed also started keeping the branding smaller, realizing that the aesthetic was what people were identifying with and citing as “Papi Juice”. Starting in 2016, Mohammed started refining his look even more, making it more like a series, but by 2017 he had decided he wanted to explore more. Mohammed aesthetic keeps changing with the needs of the community and the party.
Q&A
What do you think the role of design is in safer spaces?
Braulio: For me, doing a poster is to complement what is going on in an event itself. It’s like [the posters created for] DIY punk, how do you to transmit the same vibe? Now, it evolved from flyers to Facebook events and [with Facebook] its cropped image, but you can actually do whatever you want [design-wise] and make the type really small if you want, because the info will be there regardless.
Mohammed: I liked that the flyer is the entry point to the event. You might know a DJ or the space, but the flyer really tells you what to expect. When you center the artists [in the design] you’re really telling people what’s important.
What parts of NYC nightlife inspired you? Some people don’t have formal training, So what has inspired you?
Braulio: Keith and Studio 54. Even if it wasn’t poster culture, there was always something happening during that time. But then moving here [the US] and coming to NYC, it’s such a rich city, compared to Portugal and Lisbon, its exciting.
Mohammed: Growing up and going to gay clubs, I remember flyers (Flash Flyers, 18+ club) — but I read a lot of magazines and comics when I was young so I think you can see that in my work. I recently saw the Playgirl club flyers and realized those are my predecessors, almost like ancestors.
What ethic responsibility do designers have when choosing fonts or imagery?
Mohammed: I only draw people of color. They’re usually completely sexualized or complete de-sexualized [when portrayed in pop culture]. If I’m creating a brand new image, I need to think about what I’m contributing to; Am I making them sexualized or is it tender? Who hasn’t seen themselves on a flyer? Who’s been to every event and never seen themselves? As for type, any type is just my handwriting, I don’t tend to weigh too heavily to one style or another.
Braulio: I used to have big ideas about everything I was doing, but I just listen to the music and find a funny name of a song and create a visual identity for the Good Room posters. But for punk posters, this is a place where I can do anything, abstract, etc. it’s less tactical.
Doing design in the digital age. There is a lot of opportunity to build GIFs, Instagram, etc. do these platforms help shed light on these communities?
Mohammed: The platforms opens up the ability to get a new vibe that an image can’t. It’s dope to be inspired by who was going to be on the flyer, we realized it’s about the talent not about us.
Braulio: I agree. Especially in nightlife. My friend Ana, her job was to make sure the lineup was diverse. So, she wanted to package this in a way that showed everyone was invited and that we’re not trying to sell anything, we’re trying to create a space that is open.
Plagiarism in design. When you’re trying to create an intentional space, for people who aren’t represented. What are your thoughts on that?
Mohammed: There a specific style to my work and you know when you ended up on a mood board, and it’s tough when the mood board is right down the street from you or in your inbox, it’s stressful to know you could have done that work but you weren’t. Nylon cover (ripped him off) Poster side by side and tried to @nylon, but nothing happen. It happened here and there but its handwriting and it’s the internet. The shitty party is it could have been a design intern who went to an event that weekend and was like “this would be cool to do.”
What are some basic dos and don’ts when making a poster for marginalized people in general? When building the visual identity of your party?
Braulio: Don’t rip off people! You should try to send a message. You’re saying something no matter what. Even if it’s just abstract. Hopefully when someone else looks at it you’re transmitting the same feeling. You’re trying to tell a story you’re trying to put your personal approach to it. You’re not just a machine, you have to add something personal to it.
Mohammed: Its art, and it should move folks in some type of way. You might have a reaction to it.
Oscar: I was going to say that in the digital age we live in, night life is one of the few spaces that stay about the IRL not the URL. So when designing for night life the human aspect of design is important. Not just a generic photo of people naked and the universe background. You have to push your art forward. This new party, that I’m designing the flyers for, the process is that I want something silly and approachable. The party is low key there’s no cover, it’s a small bar in Bushwick (Happyfun Hideaway). The poster sets the bar for what people can expect.
What do you feel like are some challenges in design in night life in the future?
Mohammed: I’m always trying to reinvent myself. I was looking at 35 posters, but even looking at Braulio’s work you realize “I could be doing so much more”. My brain doesn’t work like that, but It can…and it should. Thinking about what are you doing that’s different? When it gets stale, it’s over. Im trying to keep it fresh….more often than usual, because we’re approaching an anniversary. Should there be different flyers based on technology? Is there going to be a VR flyer? Will there be goggles for it? My challenge is in terms of growth.
Braulio: For me going to a club is not just a safe space, but a new space where all these things can happen. A poster should do that too.
Oscar: Adapting to the way technology is moving. Like, we were doing Snapchat filters and now we aren’t because it’s useless. Keeping it exciting and fresh. Keeping it inclusive and intentional of the kind of space you’re creating. In our daily lives on the subway we interact with so many people and have to sift through so much BS, it’s great to just be direct with your intentions. That’s really meaningful in design.
You ever worry about getting too big?
Oscar: It’s really meaningful to us. I’m reminded daily the power of print and it’s really beautiful to see how print can carry feeling for folks. There’s a couple of digital strategies that we’re trying to do, like pre-sale tickets and different prices to make it accessible to as many people as possible.
Mohammed: I dream of just pasting a flyer everywhere but never on social media.
Technology is advancing and so is night life, what is happening years ago isn’t happening anymore. But with digital there’s a disconnect with having something tangible to remember the event. How do you reconcile that?
Mohammed: I realize I’ll forget things that I think I just did, but I did it like 20 posters ago, but you produce so much you forget how long ago things were. But I want to return to print.
Braulio: I did all these posters and people are like “can I buy a print?” And I have to say, “ Actually this poster was never printed.” Its really sad.
Mohammed: We have an art and design life outside of posters. But it’s not as much of a cult in NYC as it is somewhere else to have physical posters for parties.
Oscar: what does it mean to produce clothing? Every year we do a set of limited edition t shirts, so we are thinking about different mediums, that are tangible, like memories.
Trying to establish an identity for Papi Juice but Braulio, you have an eclectic view on graphic design. Are you just responding to each show or are you thinking about creating a theme? A Good Room poster looks like a Good Room poster but is that because you design them or is that the style for Good Room?
Braulio: If you aren’t a graphic designer you won’t care. But I would like people to relate to it in some way. I have a lot of different styles.
How did you find your voice as a designer? How did you find yourself, was it through Bloomberg or Good Room, etc?
Braulio: It was just by doing stuff I always wanted to do design for friends and that was the best way to find myself. I asked to do something that connected with people. But Bloomberg was great because every week you had to do different work. So I just did that as much as possible.
Your stuff looks tactile and analog but you have short deadlines, how do you create that so quickly?
Braulio: It’s all photoshop.
