"Tightrope" is a series I've created inspired by the song of the same name from Janelle Monae's debut studio album, The Arch Android. Using iconography and typography, I decided to focus on the silhouette of her suit and most notably, hair, while also highlighting other standout lyrics. A playful concept, it is made to evoke the same energy and happiness that comes from the soul and funk featured prominently in the song. The typography is also inspired by typefaces commonly seen on vintage music posters in the early Rock n'Roll and Motown eras.
The colors used are mainly red, black and white, since it has become a staple in Monae's branding. In the beginning, she wore black and white suits as an homage to her working-class parents, and slowly started to integrate red in her fashions. Recently, in her music video for "Django Jane" from her upcoming album Dirty Computer, red, white and black are also prominently used throughout.
In the "Tightrope" typographic poster I decided to play around with the concept behind the world 'tight'. I played around with styles for a while and came up with this idea, which sort of intertwines the T and '-ightrope' and gives a very clustered effect:
