Christopher Imrie.com

New year casino night poster

So I have been a web developer for a few years now, and I consider myself very good at what I do. Even though I tend to spend much of my time in front of a code editor these days, I am fully aware that a big reason for me being good at what I do is due to my time doing graphic design.

Even though I’ve been using photoshop for many years (since I was about 15), I only really knew enough to tinker with it. I had nowhere near enough knowledge about the program to use it for practical project.

After I finished studying at University for my Aerospace Engineering degree, I decided to take a year out to raise a bit of cash to figure out what to do next.  Naturally a bar job followed (luckily as a Bar Manager, not pint pourer) at a nightclub, where I worked for a couple of weeks shy of a full year.

During my time working there at  I began digging out my Photoshop skills since we needed flyers and event posters made and I refused to pay out for a graphic designer.  Part of this was due to arrogance on my part in thinking I could do just as well as them, but also I really enjoyed graphic designing.

Looking back now I cringe at some of the designs I produced when I first started out, but as the year went on I started to produce better and better work as I got more and more experienced.  Not only did my design skills improve, but so did my knowledge of photoshop.  Another benefit of having worked in an environment producing flyers and posters for a nightclub is that you learn a lot about paper.  To this day, the majority of my practical knowledge about the printing process and the various paper & finish options were learnt whilst cranking out flyers and poster.

So whilst going through some old files the other day I came across this gem of a poster I had produced for the nightclub.  I got a call from the nightclub I used to manage, asking me to produce a poster for an upcoming New Years party.  The theme was a James Bond casino night and the poster had to translate this.

Below is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy.