That one time I made posters for Paramore because my college teacher said he “knew someone” at their label that he could share them with.
This was a point in college when I was really convinced I would and could work in the music industry.
I was going to a lot of shows in LA at the time. Shoutout to Chain Reaction, The Avalon, The Wiltern, and The House of Blues on Sunset (RIP) and networking as much as possible.
One of my teachers at FIDM noticed my obsession with this dream and offered to share my work with someone at Paramore’s label.
Stoked as all get out, I got to work.
I made a bunch of versions based on their Brand New Eyes album.
It was their much-anticipated follow-up to Riot.
It was high-stakes. Especially for a big fan like myself.
I kept thinking, here’s my chance.
This is happening for you. You’re getting your shot.
((((Narrator Voice — it was not her shot, yet))))
I did about 30+ versions and eventually narrowed it down to five.
I emailed them to my teacher and waited.
Nothing.
Because life is funny sometimes, this all shook out at the end of a quarter. So I never had a chance to follow up in person.
Meanwhile, I still went to shows and did end up working with other bands.
Lots of:
“Can I design your next tour admat?”
“Here look at this shirt designs I made”
“Can I help design your MySpace page?”
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🧠 What I learned:
- Ask more follow-up questions
- I realized I just love the process aka making the posters vs. seeing them in the wild
- I started adding watermarks to my stuff just in case it happens again and someone uses it as their own without my permission
- Sometimes people don’t follow through, and that says more about them than you.
- Photoshop will rainbow wheel hard you when you make large print-ready posters
- It prepared me for the next thing
TL;DR — Nothing came of it. To this day, not sure if he even knew someone at Fueled by Ramen 😂
This was a huge learning experience for me. And it was okay that nothing came of it. I had fun making them. I mean, at the end of the day, I made posters based on one of my favorite albums of all-time, which I ended up using in my portfolio for years to come.
This one is my personal favorite 👇
It’s on my to-do list to get it framed for my office :)
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I’m Allyssa 👋
Designer & marketer.
Product Marketing + Branding + Design + Marketing Strategy
