Inspired by his own anger and frustration at being ousted from the Soviet Party, Shostakovich wrote his 5th Symphony in D minor, opus 47 as his attempt to reconcile with his Soviet critics, culminating in a piece of intense, conflicting emotions. Designing a typographic poster around the mood of this symphony, I created a fusion of a fluid S and a rigid 5, as if they had collided or had grown out of conflict. Avoiding the obvious colors and symbolism of the Soviet flag, I chose a gradient of yellow and red against a black background to represent Shostakovich’s fiery passion.
