Generative AI has made creating theatre marketing graphics easy and efficient. For community theatres with small budgets, volunteer marketing teams, and limited design experience, the appeal is clear.
But generative AI isn’t always the solution. There are legitimate questions surrounding generative AI in theatre, including copyright, ownership, artist compensation, and the role AI should play in an industry built around human creativity.
Here are seven alternatives to generative AI for creating theatre marketing graphics (with examples), even if you’re working with a small budget and don’t consider yourself a graphic designer.
1. Start With the Show’s Official Marketing Materials
Check what came with your show’s licensing materials. You may have access to an official show logo, title treatment, artwork, social media graphics, or other marketing assets. If they’re available and approved for your production, use them.
Make sure you read the guidelines that accompany the assets. There may be requirements regarding placement, billing, colors, alterations, or the presentation of the show’s title and authors. Your licensing materials aren’t just legal paperwork. They may also be one of your best marketing resources.
2. Use Your Own Production Photography
Your theatre has something no image generator can recreate: Your production. Your actors, costumes, scenery, props, rehearsal room, venue, and creative team are unique to the experience audiences will actually have.
Try photographing:
- An interesting prop against a simple background
- Costume details
- Scripts on a rehearsal table
- Actors in rehearsal
- The set under construction
- Your marquee/signage
- The stage before rehearsal
- Character shoes or accessories
- A particularly interesting piece of scenery
- Behind-the-scenes work happening in the scene or costume shop
3. Look at What Your Designers Have Already Created
Before asking AI to create something new, look around the rehearsal room. Your production team may have already created a tremendous amount of original visual material.
A scenic designer may have renderings or models. A costume designer may have sketches and research boards. Your props team may have created an unusual object. Your lighting designer may have captured an incredible moment while building cues. Be sure to credit the designer if you use their work.
4. Keep It Simple With Typography
Not every theatre graphic needs an elaborate illustration. Especially in the age of accessibility, ensure that screen readers can read your graphics.
A solid background, strong typography, the show’s official logo, your theatre’s branding, and clear information can be enough. You can always add more information to captions on social media or other marketing materials if needed (and captions can be edited in case something changes!).
This is especially useful for recurring content like:
- Audition announcements
- Ticket reminders
- Cast announcements
- Meet the Cast bios
- Opening night
- Reviews
- Talkbacks
- Special events
- Closing weekend
5. Use Licensed Stock Photography and Design Elements
If you need imagery that you can’t create yourself, stock assets are another option. Stock photography, illustrations, textures, icons, and other design elements can provide the visual foundation for a graphic without requiring you to generate something from scratch.
Add your show’s official logo. Apply your production’s colors. Combine it with your theatre’s established branding. Use typography to make it feel like part of your campaign rather than dropping an unrelated stock image onto your feed.
6. Build Templates You Can Use Again and Again
If you’re considering generative AI because creating graphics takes too much time, the bigger problem may be your workflow. You shouldn’t need to reinvent your graphics every time you post. Create reusable templates for the types of content your theatre publishes regularly.
Keep the theatre logo in the same location. Establish a small group of fonts. Choose consistent colors. Determine how you display dates and ticket information. In Canva, for example, you can set up a brand for your theatre to save your brand identity so you don’t have to look it up each time you want to use it. Canva even offers grants to qualifying nonprofits and schools to use its software for free!
Templates don’t just save time. Consistency is part of branding.
7. Hire an Artist Strategically
The most common response to conversations about AI-generated artwork is understandable:
“We can’t afford to hire a graphic designer for everything.”
Hiring a designer doesn’t necessarily mean paying someone to create every Instagram post for your entire season. Instead, determine where professional creative work will have the greatest impact.
Ask for deliverables such as:
- Primary show artwork
- Poster design
- Color palette
- Font recommendations
- Social media templates
- Digital ad layouts
- Basic guidelines for adapting the design
Then your theatre’s marketing team can use those materials to create everyday content throughout the campaign. One professionally designed visual identity can become dozens of graphics.
Before You Generate That Graphic…
The next time you’re staring at an empty design and thinking about opening an image generator, ask:
- Did the licensing company provide official artwork or a show logo?
- Could I use a rehearsal or production photograph?
- Has someone on the creative team already made something worth showcasing?
- Would simple typography communicate this message better?
- Could I use a properly licensed stock asset?
- Can I solve this problem permanently by creating a reusable template?
- Could we hire an artist to create the key artwork and adapt it ourselves?
Leave a Reply