A series of stories celebrating folklore and folk culture in New York State.
Abstract
FolkloreNY is a year long project celebrating life in New York State. I created and curated an original publication using stories from the New York Folklore Society, designing original illustrations and layouts in order to showcase these inspiring tales. Folklore is a forgotten subject and I wanted to revitalize interest in it in a unique and exciting way. I also created a brand around this topic; making posters, stickers, and other assets.
Branding
Corporate Candy
Corporate Candy by Molly Garfunkel and Steve Zeitlin tells the story of Economy Candy, a small business that has held strong for many years amidst the gentrification of New York City. Because of this, I wanted to incorporate personal elements. To do this, I created a series of oil pastel illustrations that I used within my layout. I also used a serif typeface in order to tie in to this historic feeling.
Ghosts Moving Furniture
Ghosts Moving Furniture by Libby Tucker is a light-hearted story discussing the possibilities of ghosts and their furniture-moving shenanigans. I decided to portray this through cheerful gouache illustrations, interacting with the text as the ghosts do with us.
Hog-Rassle
Hog-Rassle by James Kimball is a personal account of rowdy behavior at local square-dancing gigs. The story is directly about the narrator's experiences, and so I chose to go with annotated photos and fun display typefaces to show this.
Posters
This is a poster triad I made in order to promote the project. The first poster features patches designed to look like embroidery, highlighting the handmade, folksy feeling of the branding. The second poster is a digital collage with locations and landmarks from across New York State. The third poster design includes iconic components of New York— from the state bird and gemstone all the way to a Rochester garbage plate.
Brainstorming
"Folklore is everywhere, from your mother's recipe box to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade".
I originally struggled quite a bit with landing on a subject for my thesis. Mapping was really helpful for me in the beginning phases, as I had a lot of ideas that I did not know how to work with. I was encouraged to come up with a singular image/quote pairing that summarized my project and what I wanted to accomplish.
Visual Exploration
Because my final project was a physical magazine, I was constantly printing out my work and revising it at the actual scale. I also created original folk art using new mediums I had never explored prior such as gouache, oil pastel, watercolor, and more. I also ran an Instagram and blog dedicated to updates on the project.
Thesis Show
The culmination of this project was a public show held by SUNY New Paltz. This was an event where local designers, faculty, students, friends, and family could come learn about the graphic design program's thesis group and their projects. At this show, I had a booth with my publication, as well as a mini zine I created explaining the three branches of folklore. I also had stickers, t-shirts, tote bags, and posters featuring FolkloreNY.