Angola Rodeo

The Angolo Rodeo is a yearly tradition that happens at the Louisiana State Penitentiary every year. The Rodeo is unique in that it is entirely operated by the prisoners located there. They are the cowboys, the rodeo clowns, and the staff. It was originally created as a way to entice inmates to be on their best behavior in order to participate in the rodeo, as well as give them a medium to let loose and enjoy themselves from their otherwise monotonous prison life. 

Design

The idea for this poster is simple, yet effective. Everything about this event screams "contradiction" to me. People voluntarily walking into a prison to enjoy a fun and family friendly rodeo, prisoners being the lawbreaking wild cowboys as well as the rodeo clowns, etc. I wanted to keep this contradiction theme going on a few fronts. From a conceptual standpoint, we have what appears to be a "rocking horse" breaking free from its confining rocker, while conveying a wild ravage expression. From a style standpoint the horse is very geometric, aggressive, and does not appear to be your normal cuddly rocking horse, meanwhile I contrasted this with a modern rounded typeface to balance the rigidity.