2025 Iowa Music Teacher’s Conference Booklet + Posters
Helping bring a musical event to life through aesthetic booklets and posters
Here’s how I approached the event’s handouts!
Overview
As one of my first freelance projects, I was tasked with helping the music staff at St. Ambrose University with creating booklets and posters for the Iowa Music Teacher’s State Conference. This booklet would have to include schedules, featured performers, advertisements, and more. Not only that, but I also had to make posters which would be used in sandwich boards which would help attendees of the event navigate through the venue.
I started off with designing the cover. The client wanted two elements included: the IMTA logo and some kind of piano motif included. The designs shown above are what the client leaned towards, but ultimately they chose the left-most one. After that was decided, I worked with the client to come up with the overall layout of the design as well as the content.
After the booklet was done, we then needed posters that would help guide people throughout the building. Not only did these posters do that, but they showcased the featured partners of the event!
And just like that, the project is finished! Through clear communication with the client, I was able to come up with a design that works. Both the booklet and the posters ended up being used for the event. I would like to thank the SAU music department for letting me help out with their event!
What I Learned
InDesign was a key component in this project, so I had to make good use of paragraph styles, spacing tools, and master pages. Getting experience with these tools can help me be better informed when I have to work on future projects that are done in InDesign.
With this being one of my first freelance projects, I was able to learn a lot about the designer-client relationship, as well as how the work process typically goes for a designer. We went through multiple revision of the project, and despite being on a time crunch, we were able to come up with a good result!
I was able to get a better idea of why design can help enhance the experience of those at an event. Throughout this project, I was asking myself questions such as: What will the experience of the attendees be like? How can I make navigating the event as easy as possible? Asking these questions can really help make events like these feel like higher quality.