All Stars Performing Arts Presents – Cinderella

Production Design

I love working with this performing arts group. The productions are always fantastic and the young people involved with the group put their hearts and souls into every performance. The adults that get involved are fabulous too.

All Stars Performing Arts recently put on a production of Cinderella at the Bradford Playhouse. I was asked to look after production design which entailed flyer design, T Shirt design for the troop, stage setting design for projection, programme design including all headshots of the cast, social media banners etc. I also got to be a stage ninja too, which is helping out with prop placement and removal between scenes among other activities. The whole production was such a lot of fun to be involved with.

My approach to the main design element very much reflected upon the two sides of Cinderella within the storyline. The Downtrodden Cinders, forced to look after her evil stepmother and stepsisters who treated her like a slave in her own home. Drab, dowdy and covered in muck, but still showing the beauty that she is. Then the other side of her story. The beautiful girl who eventually captured the eye and heart of the prince and goes on to live happily ever after. It occurred to me early on in the design process that this could be reflected within the one portrait image of her character. The two sides of the story split down the middle. Then it was just a case of making it work and balance as a single image while still showing that inner beauty that we all have come to love about Cinderella’s character.

I’m pleased with how it turned out. See how the image came together in the video below…

Flyer Design

Programme Cover

Programme Inner – Spot The Difference

The Pumpkin

The T Shirt Designs

Stage Set Design

The other part of the production that I was involved with was to make the stage set images which were projected onto the back of the stage during the performance. I didn’t want to over complicate the designs and tried to keep them as simple and classic looking as possible. They were a whole lot of fun to put together and they worked brilliantly for each of the individual scenes. Projection technology is getting better and better and it is amazing what you can do with performance spaces these days.

I was recently contacted by a lovely chap called Jason Ginnelly, who asked me to design the book cover for his up and coming publication of poems and prose. I really enjoyed designing this book cover and made sure that Jason was completely involved with the design process from the beginning, right to the end. The resulting cover very much reflects Jason’s personality and equally, the contents of this lovely book. This was a self publication project and it was important for me to get the right result for Jason, understanding what a hugely personal project this was.

You can get you own copy here: Mind Jazz

See a brief synopsis below…

Mind Jazz is a riff on reality and the nonsensical rhubarb we all encounter every day. It takes us on a journey through experiences and emotions, from our parents to love, loneliness to depression, to joy and laughter.
Encapsulating life in all its sadness, surrealism and silliness. Mind Jazz reveals life’s light and shade, its blacks. whites and greys with its serious heft beside the topsy turvy fanciful fluff that provides the mood music to our loves.

Cinderella – Production Design