Mutual Aid Poster

Mutual Aid poster design, full colour.

A promotional flyer for an arts and crafts market supporting local artists and mutual aid programs including a free-pantry serving low-income and unhoused community members.

The organizers wanted something distinctly human, with hand drawn elements, rather than something polished or corporate. I created 2 initial directions visual directions before developing the selected concept into a print ready 8.5×11” poster, along with a black and white version, and a four-up version for easy printing.

The goal was to bring together photographs of artists’ work in a collage style without letting the flyer become visually muddied.

I wanted someone to understand the event almost immediately: this is an art market, there are lots of different kinds of things here, this is the vibe, and here’s when and where to find it.

I deliberately moved away from the visual language of traditional non-profit flyers. Hand lettering, doodles, bright colour, and imperfect edges gave the piece a handmade community-driven feeling while still leaving details clear and easy to find.

I began by gathering event details, photographs, visual references, and expectations from the organizers, and then translated those into two rough grayscale layouts. After they selected a direction, I refined the compositions through cropping, layering, editing, and rearranging the supplied imagery.

I used typography and hand-drawn elements to establish hierarchy, with the event name and location as the strongest focal points. Important details like the date, time, and address were given solid colour backgrounds so they remained legible even when layered over imagery. The result is intentionally busy, but structured enough that the viewer can easily find what they need.