Affinity and Cavalry give creatives somewhere to create freely… and for free

“There’s already so many barriers to entry in design,” he explains, “it’s nice how you can just go to the website, download it and start playing around with world-class software,” – a fiercely enticing prospect when facing hundreds of pounds a month for other tools. “To not have that financial pressure to use it and just be able to jump in and out at your own pace is empowering.”

Affinity and Cavalry were thoroughly put to good use across the pair of posters. Melina’s piece, true to her tactile, observational work, is textural, engrossing, and delightful – a consistent quality of the Brisbane-based designer. Led by the theme, Melina depicted “the sky made room for me,” speaking to the “endless, open space” of the boundless ether. “‘Made room for me’ also suggests having the freedom to exist and just take up space without needing to know exactly where you’re going,” she adds, conveying a hopeful tone through both the messaging and the welcoming, buoyant colour palette. “I also wanted that light, airy feeling to also come through in the way the typography and graphics move across the poster.”

The text, subsequently, isn’t strictly confined, and floats its way across the space, which is a sentiment she practised in the act of making too – having opted for a rather analogue approach to printing, scanning and cutting that leant into the poster’s imperfections. “I wanted to embrace these moments of unpredictability instead of controlling every detail,” Melina notes, “and that’s also part of this creative freedom.”