Lemonhead Productions
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an amateur drama company with a professional approach - since 1999
 
Meeting the Designer: Derek Fenech

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OFFICIAL POSTER

This is the 3rd poster you're creating for a Lemonhead production. Your first was Bar Macbeth, then Frankenstein and now Faustus. How do you feel when you look back at the previous two designs?

Every actor has their own way of interpreting the script and message being conveyed to the audience. Poster design is the first medium that engages the audience with the production so the message interpreted by the designer has to be enticing as well. The first two posters that I designed for Lemonhead both had different styles of interpretation with evocative imagery and type and set my path for the great relationship I have with Lemonhead.

This time with the Fautus poster you turned to a new style? Illustration. Why?

As I said graphic design is a medium of communication and the designer chooses one of the various disciplines that make it to engage with the people. At the moment I am rediscovering again my passion for illustration so the choice of pen created art was a natural choice of interpretation. Added to this was the fact that I wanted to create something 'disturbing' and I felt that only by creating an illustration I could get that feel.

How do you go about creating something like this?

Just like an actor. I first ask Bryan for the script. I need to get a good feel of the story, the characters and the environment in which the narration is being developed. I research the subject, and then I start sketching, exploring various ways on how I can interpret the story, creating a balance of how much you want to give out to the audience at this stage but at the same time engaging them to get them to watch the production. AT some stage I discuss some ideas with Bryan and my wife since she is an actress because I believe that design is a dialogue never a monologue. My research is very meticulous from the style chosen to the typography being used, all have to follow the narration's subject and environment.

Bryan is known for being a very demanding person, but does he hinder your creativity, or does he encourage a license-free 'express yourself the way you like' kind of thing?

He is a despotic tyrant! ;) He is great to work with. His feedback is always very constructive and we seem to be on the same wavelength most of the time. Though I am not an actor he makes me feel like one.

Apart from the Lemonhead posters, you also worked with Bryan on Amen. That too was different that the all the others. What was the main difference and what inspired you?

To be honest my approach was no different from theatre. We opted to go for three different posters for Amen, with two teasers leading the way to the final one. I guess it was the closest we could get to a cinematic production so our design approach was very close to that. The inspiration again came from the research I did: from classic horror movies to modern day ones, demonology and symbolism.

What are the main points that helped you express this Faustus illustration?

I was attracted to the character of Mephistopheles and the pact he offered to Faustus. In my eyes he was a villain and a hero with his multi-faceted personality being shown through the characters that make up the narration.

Can you choose a favourite from all the designs you created for Lemonhead or Bryan?

They are like kids I guess so I have no favorite ones. 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT DEREK'S WEBSITE