Working directly with Illinois Shakespeare Festival, these posters conceptually capture the themes and important elements found within Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. The right poster was inspired by the shipwreck, an event that truly flipped the story, as well as Viola’s character, completely upside down. It highlights the importance of elements, such as water, within the play, and the reflected ships symbolically portray the separate worlds of each person Shakespeare lets us in on, similar but also unique. They also represent the importance of the twin’s dynamic, and the way they were separated through the start of the story. The bright shades of blue and green, as well as the reflected ships, reference a kaleidoscope – defined as a constantly changing pattern of objects or elements, which can represent this play’s many love stories.

The left poster builds off the line, “If music be the food of love, play on.” It promotes the idea of the play as a celebration, a feast of love and music, which also points back to the play’s title as the twelfth night of Christmas, or the Feast of Epiphany. The food is laid out once again in a kaleidoscopic pattern, with a central heart to represent the play’s characters “putting their heart on the table, or line”. These relationships drive the play, which can be seen in the “heartstrings” that flow and knot to spell the play’s title. The translucent shapes both add to the kaleidoscopic depiction and add a sense of happiness and brightness to the darker imagery through the use of light blues, pinks, orange, and yellow, which also references Malvolio’s stockings. Transparency also symbolizes the idea of character anonymity, as both the viewers and the characters try to find their true self.