The Hollywood Bowl might be one among my favourite locations in Los Angeles – music, nature, creativity swirling within the open air below the celebrities – who wouldn’t adore it?! You’ll be able to think about how over the moon I used to be when the Hollywood Bowl requested me to design the merch for the 2023 Jazz Competition!!! This was a dream collaboration. I used to be so impressed that I instantly began sketching with a black sharpie. Despite the fact that I by no means shrink back from colour, I wished to first conceptualize the designs in black and white to see what I used to be interested in graphically. I wished to incorporate components that represented the music, the artists, the viewers, and LA iconography to provide the designs a way of place. Listed here are a few of my preliminary sketches.
We in the end went with these (beneath) and added different components and many enjoyable, vivid colour to make the designs pop! My designs have been impressed by the free-form, improvisational, nature of jazz music and pure components that symbolize Los Angeles and the Hollywood Bowl – together with palm bushes, sunshine, seashells and stars. I wished the artwork to symbolize not solely the music and the musicians, but additionally the group. The dots pouring out from the Hollywood Bowl shell symbolize the viewers. The decision and response between the viewers and the musicians explodes in a magical show. The hand-drawn lettering, geometric shapes and spirals recall the Artwork Deco model prevalent throughout the rise of jazz. And the funky, enjoyable, good vibes that exudes from the artwork – properly, that’s the “Justina spice” that I can’t assist however sprinkle into all that I do! I hope it makes you wish to dance!
The workforce on the Hollywood Bowl (shout out to Janice Bartczak and Melissa Achten!!) – very like our workforce at Jungalow – is small however mighty. It was so cool to work with a workforce as nimble as ours and iterate on the designs as we went alongside. Janice and Melissa even got here to the Jungalow Pop Up launch get together (extra on that within the subsequent weblog submit!) and invited us to the Jazz Competition a few days later. So grateful to domesticate extra inventive group!
It was such a visit to see so many stunning folks strolling round with the merch on! It felt like artwork and creativity have been connecting us all to at least one one other. The Hollywood Bowl workforce additionally had the sensible concept so as to add BUCKET HATS to the merch line up! How freaking cute are they?!?! P.S. They offered out in 4 hours!!! 
It was so surreal to see my designs IRL at an iconic Los Angeles landmark. Nonetheless floating on a cloud from the entire expertise!!!
Thanks SO a lot to the Hollywood Bowl for this chance and for having me and my fam at this 12 months’s Jazz Competition! Try the entire assortment right here.
