Concept poster by Martin Ties.
Article by Hajilem.

This conceptual poster for DeMarco, Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, was designed by Martin Ties, a graphic designer and photographer from the southern Netherlands. Ties takes inspiration from 1970s craft books, combining collage, layering, and a distinctly retro vibe, resulting in a multi-media approach.

This Poster features concert photos that Ties reworked to give them a stencil-like look, conveying a warm, blurry, and feverish feeling. These pics, taken with his iPhone, also capture memories of the concert the designer attended in Cologne. 

The silhouettes are barely recognizable, and that’s the point; you had to be there. It’s a personal work, a tribute to memory. And those familiar with the context will immediately recognize DeMarco.

The silhouettes are then cut out, reassembled, and the text follows them organically. This relationship between text and image is reminiscent of Oulipo, where the text becomes an image in its own right.

The text is fluid, with no visual hierarchy; the eye wanders freely across the poster: only black blocks indicate where a sentence begins. It’s then up to the viewer to piece the sentence back together, like a game.

This process is similar to bullet journals, where the writer writes down their day, thoughts, and events in a notebook. This page does the same, capturing experiences that are later revisited to create a meaningful reminder of that event. A moment frozen forever on a page.

© 2026 Martin TIes - All Copyright Rights reserved.

.