Despite the Distance

Showing appreciation for artists performing at a concert

A Piece of My Life

Music has always been a huge aspect of my life. Not only do I love listening to music, but there are also beautiful communities that are created because of music. When I got introduced to K-pop, it was a quick and easy addition to my life. I love to be able to share my interests in all that I do. K-pop makes that easy through the different ways fans express their love. I will show my love through the things I wear, the stickers on my belongings, and the things I talk about. This is especially true when I have a favorite member of a group. If you know me, you’re going to know who my favorite K-pop idol is! With my tendency to want to express my interests to everyone I know, I knew that a K-pop concert would be a perfect opportunity to do so.

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Concert customs

K-pop concerts are much more than just being able to see the group perform. There is a custom between fans to exchange small gifts with other fans at the show. This concept has been coined as “freebies”. These gifts can range from bracelets, keychains, trading cards, small banners, etc. Another fun idea that goes along with freebies is not only are you making connections with other fans, but you are able to show love for the K-pop group. I decided to do just the thing with the freebies I made for NCT Dream’s tour in Oakland in September 2024.

We got history

During this time, there was a member of NCT Dream that was not going to be in attendance because of his health. This led me to want the main idea of my freebies to focus on him. This would allow fans to recognize and appreciate him even though he wouldn’t be there. Not only is he a beloved member of the group, but he is also my favorite member — so it was especially important to me. Through my brainstorming, planning, and execution, I wanted to make sure he was the focus, while still recognizing the group as a whole. This would be my first project of this calliber and that would be shared with the public. With that understanding, I wanted the finished product to be polished and professional. 

First Try

With my idea focusing on the member who was not in attendance, I started creating a “missing cat” poster. This design would be printed on a business card so I could easily pass and share to the other concert goers. I made this design, while it was cute and fun, there were just some details that were not coming together how I wanted. I decided that I wanted to transition into a new kind of freebie and design.

  • Does not look professional enough
  • Does not recognize the whole group
  • Color scheme was not very strong

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Back

I hate this distance

At the time of this concert, the group had recently released a song entitled “Broken Melodies”. The concept around the song is about missing someone because of the distance between them. By using that concept, I paired it with the visuals around the music video and album cover to create a banner that fans can hold up during the concert.

Scrapbook cut out of the group member and the process of creating a cloud shape.

Creating

From the analysis of the concept of their song ‘Broken Melodies’, these are some of the elements I created in Adobe Illustrator. The text is taken directly from the song lyrics because it perfectly ecncompasses the feelings that many fans and I had towards this member not being in attendance. The doodles were created to add more depth and visual interest to the design. Photos of NCT Dream are sourced from SM Entertainment and were not used for profit. All other elements were created by me using Adobe Illustrator. The process of creating this design was satisfying more of the goals of what I wanted for the freebies.

That’s a wrap!

Through studying the concept of the song, I was able to come up with this design. Banners are typically double-sided, so I created one side dedicated to the member who was missing and the other to the whole group. I found an online printing service to print them double-sided on high quality paper. This design fulfilled the goals I had in mind. Not only was it able to properly recognize my favorite member and the entire group, but I was able to execute it in a professional manner. I was so excited to be able to share this with those in attendance at the concert. 

The Final Design

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Share the love

This project was a great opportunity to execute a creative project on my own and be able to share it with those with the same interests as me. If you ever want to share your love like I did, reach out to me and I will help that idea come to life. 

Contact: allyhansen246@gmail.com