Around 5,000 images will be uploaded on Instagram alone by the time you read this sentence. With this swarm of digital content relentlessly hijacking our screen by the minute, we naturally become apathetic to the efforts poured into creating them. But subcultures have always held their ground and backed their kin, which leads to deeper appreciation and a stronger narrative. This time around, it’s the visual artists of India’s music scene who seem to be looking out for each other.
Indian Gig Poster Archive aims to chronicle the work of designers with regards to the gig posters from the Indian music scene. A website containing surplus amount of strikingly irresistible posters from across the country for you to drool over. The caption from their debut Instagram post neatly sums up the intent behind the initiative, which says – “Over the years artists and designers have been a big part of the system supporting independent music producing posters, merchandise, album art, music videos, live visuals and more. Created usually for love and little compensation, only a few gig posters ever make it off of the bands’/brands’ social media pages. Rather than let them die there, [Indian Gig Poster Archive] collects and presents a huge repository of the visuals being created for independent Indian music, as well as a record of the people and studios producing this work.”
Run by Mohini Mukherjee of Friends of Friends, the website is not only sorted by the work of the individual designers, but also by the cities of where the gigs took place. Additional one can even submit their work to be featured, from the website’s ‘Submit’ portal. This creates a finer ecosystem for everyone, from upcoming designers to musicians and promoters, and lays an overall emphasis on the worth of creatively designed posters. Rehan Oonwalla of Kranti Art Theory, manages a bunch of independent acts, talks about the importance of good gig posters, “In the age of the internet, most consumers engage on a visual level, so it’s very important for an artist to effectively communicate relevant information on their gig posters. It doesn’t have to be a fancy illustration, but relevant, neat and aligned with the visual identity of the artist. If the artist can maintain this, they will 100% see an increase in fans and footfall at shows.”
Hence there’s no denial about the importance of good designs in the creative community. Much like musicians, designers and other facets of the music scene need to be nurtured and supported, and Indian Gig Poster Archive is definitely a major step in that direction.
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