WYCE Jammies
Awards Show
Awards Show
WYCE is an independent, community radio station run by the Grand Rapids Community Media Center, focused on promoting local artists and independent music from around the world. Each year they hold an awards show for local music releases called the Jammies. It is an all-ages show sponsored by Grand Rapids businesses and raises money to support Feeding America. Since 2011, WYCE has worked with me to help concept the annual theme and create promotional materials.
There are many important considerations for each awards season. First and foremost is creating a concept that can generate excitement for both listeners of WYCE and members of each bands respective following. Themes range from the specific - "Friday the 13th" or "Quinceañera" - to the broadly general. The team at WYCE gives me a lot of latitude but visuals are carefully scrutinized to ensure the audience feels included.
The second major consideration is creating graphics that can flex and scale for physical and digital mediums while maintaining fidelity. Band names must be clear and legible, sponsor logo orientation must correspond to their level of support, date / time / location must be instantly discernible, and the WYCE logo must also be prominently displayed. Graphics must be able to be reduced to 2-3 colors for screen printing for t-shirts, which are an important fundraising and awareness tool. I also work with the team to create web ads and social graphics which are used by the radio station and bands to heavily promote the show online.
Selected artwork from past Jammies Awards.
