Visitation School is a private Catholic gradeschool, with an all-girls high school, in Mendota Heights. Its annual Merrie Market gala fundraiser is the biggest event of their year, celebrating the school and its values. Each year a new theme needs to balance a great party that builds excitement with the school's priorities and virtues.

This year the chairs worked with the students to create a music- and dance-filled evening, and we wanted the artwork to broadcast the feeling of An Event. Echoing the excitement of the Big Top, we went for a retro, Americana feel centering colorful hot air balloons. I started with Visitation's signature red color, to keep it tied to the brand, but combined it with dusty blues, greens and golds to give it an old fashioned twist.

The invitation included a custom die-cut to make people feel they were being invited into the tent for this great circus, and the physical signage helped build the big top experience. I provided graphics and files for physical and digital media to tie the whole experience together into another successful fundraising event.