Like many of my personal projects—this one began with a random piece of design I saw out in the world and wanted to create my own version of. This time it happened to be a vintage inspired Halloween luminary in someone’s home decor video. I married that concept with a desire I’d had for a while to create something involving Universal’s Classic Monsters. The general vibe of my Halloween decor is ‘autumn harvest festival of the past’ and these lanterns will continue to build out the vintage whimsy while also adding a spookier crowd of characters.
These were printed on heavy cardstock and cut out by hand with traditional printer paper glued inside to cover the cutouts. A tea light is then placed inside and the monsters come to life with a cozy glow and flicker. Each character has a consistent set of main features removed (eyes + mouth) as well as unique details that add to their look. I aimed to create a sense of balance in terms of amount “cut out” across each of them and was also sure to maintain equal levels of printed design elements and strokes vs cut outs.
Packaging
Just as I did with my previous Halloween project, I decided to make some faux packaging for these lanterns. One of my visual references was Ben Cooper masks and their packaging, so I decided to pay homage to that by including a cellophane cutout that allowed you to view the “product.”
References & Inspiration
While the idea for the project as a whole came from some 1940’s inspired World Market lanterns, my visual inspiration was that of Ben Cooper masks and their packaging from the 50’s - 70’s.