About

The Las Cruces Chamber Ballet is a ballet company located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They have been putting on Nutcracker performances for over 40 years, and I had the honor of designing the graphics used to promote the 2024 Nutcracker show, including a poster, Instagram graphic, Facebook banner, newspaper graphic, flyers, and the cover of the program.

Process

The creation of the Nutcracker graphics began with researching existing posters for the show and brainstorming words that fit the theme. I have performed in 9 Nutcracker shows, so I am familiar with the storyline and the characters. While researching, I realized that a lot of the posters leave out one of the most exciting characters: the rats!

My graphics portray The Rat King and The Nutcracker preparing for battle, while still capturing other elements of the ballet, such as the Snow Scene and Land of the Sweets.

Tools Used

ProCreate on iPad

Adobe Illustrator

Affinity Designer 2

Pencil and paper for initial sketches