D&AD - Ministry of sounD

The required a set of 4 A3 typogrpahically-focused outdoor poster designs. They were as a 3 month advertising campaign for Ministry of Sound, to be more specific, they’re Saturday Sessions. The overall design and type choice was very open but they had to communicate the dates, the DJs and the brand “very clearly and concisely”. The poseters were said to be often viewed from a moving vechile so impact was key.

Brand personalityWhatever Ministry of Sound does, it has authority, it is epic and it is global. Whenever it does, it delivers a pioneering, iconic experience.

Target audienceMinistry of Sound attracts clubbers and dance music lovers from all walks of life, with an average age of around 18-30. A night at Saturday Sessions will be the highlight of their month and will be something that they will plan well in advance.

BackgroundMinistry of Sound in London is the most iconic nightclub venue in the world, run by passionate people with electronic music in their soul. 21 this year, it has the best sound system, the biggest Djs and the friendliest, most down-to-earth vibe. It’s your perfect night out where you can lose yourself in an atmosphere unlike anywhere else.

Brief set and written by: Dan Moore, Partner/Creative Director, Studio Output/Ministry of Sound.

The club that inspired the designer, DJ Justin Berkmann, to create the MoS club in London. Paradise Garage was founded by Michael Brody and it was located in King street, Hudson Square neighborhood of New York City. It was open between 1976 – 1987. No alcohol was served and the club was not open to the general public.

The sound system was said to be the best in New York City at the time.Unlike some other clubs, Paradise Garage was more focused on dancing rather than social interaction.

I began by looking into general information on Ministry of Sound, such as the date it opened, design inspiration, the music itself and so on.

Apart from realsing that far more DJs and genres of music played there than I had originally thought, I found some interesting information about how the club was designed. What I found was that the inspiration was taken from a club which used to exist in New York called, Paradise Garage.

From this point i began looking at some of the posters for Paradise Garage when it was open.

I then looked further into the Saturday Sessions and some of the DJs that play there. I found some images on the Ministry of Sound website of a set by Fedde Le Grande. I was looking for inspiration to and to investigate to see if there was a particukar feel or mood inside the club.

I then looked at existing poster designs, some for Ministry of Sound, some tpyographical and some other club ones for inspiration.

D&AD - Ministry of sounD

I began by experimenting with different materials to create some textures for the poster. I also did a type experiment using iron filings.

The experiments used different sound frequencies being played through a speaker. I played the Ministry of Sounds Saturday Sessions Radio show and placed various objects on top and filmed and photographed the effects.

The first object I used was water. Using iron filings

From this point I looked at hip hop flyers.

I then had the idea of using a flash light/torch or similar to create some of the typogrpahy and/or imagery for the poster. I was aware that this has been used before but it was something I wanted to try and felt that it would create the desired effect that I had in mind. The light imagery that is created when using this technique also reminds me of the lightis in a club.

Other interesting ways of creating type.

D&AD - Ministry of sounD

Ideas Development

Flash light experiments.Camera: Canon 450D – set to longer exposure so I could draw the type in the air using an LED torch.

CD Experiments

Ideas Development

The final series of 3