Culture
Athens High School Student Provides Designs For Local Theater Group
By: Celeste Parsons
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Long before the lines are learned and the costumes fitted, a dramatic production needs a logo—a simple, catchy graphic that captures the essence of the play and the attention of a viewer.
Sixteen-year-old Jade Morris of Nelsonville, Ohio, has found her niche by creating logos for Athenian Berean Community Players productions.
Her first show logo appeared on posters and advertising for First Things First, which was performed in May 2013.
Morris' logo designs will also be used for ABC Players' upcoming productions of Death by Chocolate (directed by Cecilia Rinaldi and sponsored by Hocking Valley Bank) and The Princess and the Goblins (directed by Celeste Parsons and sponsored by Blackburn Home Furnishings).
The Athens High School junior has been drawing since she "was able to hold a pencil," taking classes in mixed media, photography and ceramics. Morris also occasionally does ceramics work in the Nelsonville Emporium.
Her logo designs usually start with a pen-and-pencil sketch, with color added later to a digitized copy using Photoshop. The style of her drawings varies from the 1940s realism used for Death by Chocolate to whimsical, fantastic creatures and landscape illustrations for The Princess and the Goblins.
Morris is interested in science as well as art, and that interest helps shape her artwork.
"I love nature and fantasy-styled drawings, sculptures, and paintings. I'm influenced by anything that I see," she said.
Morris said that her greatest satisfaction comes when a new character is finally illustrated on paper.
"When I'm designing a character, I like knowing that I'm creating a new identity that can be shaped however I want it to be," she explained. "I can imagine that character's personality, physical appearance, and background story all I want, but to me it's not an actual being until I have finally sketched it out…after that, it's always going to exist, whether anyone else has seen it yet or not, it's no longer just an idea in my head."
The ABC Players hope to have many more of Jade's ideas representing their shows. Visit the ABC Players' Facebook page for details on upcoming shows and auditions.