Birmingham’s Restaurant Scene

For this poster I wanted to create something related to Birmingham, Alabama’s amazing options for dining. Birmingham is home to 7 James Beard Award winning chefs and restaurants, with numerous semifinalists and nominations as well. Birmingham Restaurant Week takes place every summer with “…participating businesses will offer prix-fixe breakfast, lunch and/or dinner offerings, including beer, wine and cocktail specials.” And only locally owned establishments can participate, which means there are no chains allowed. It’s a fun way to get a taste of so much of what Birmingham has to offer. 

Process

One of Birmingham’s most iconic landmarks is Vulcan, God of the Forge, which is a statue that rests high on Red Mountain, overlooking the entire city. I felt it was important to include him in this poster, so I used Adobe Fresco to draw a clean outline of his upper body, reaching into the sky.  But rather than the spear tip he actually holds, I replaced it with a fork pointing at the plate. After I drew Vulcan, I imported the image into Adobe Illustrator. There, I created the checkered patterns at the top and bottom of the poster that have become synonymous with so many restaurants and diners over time. I created the plate using the ellipse tool. The Birmingham cityscape placed in the bottom left of frame is a stock vector image licensed from Adobe Stock. My goal was to create a look that had a retro postcard vibe, but using the sanserif type choices to create a hint of a modern aesthetic.