Design Work Milestone

You can create posters in all shapes and sizes. There is no standard size or orientation you can go by when creating posters. The most important thing to remember is to design for your audience. You want to keep your message short and succinct because you only have a few seconds to catch your viewer’s attention as they pass by.

 

In designing these posters, it was a great opportunity to see things from a different perspective. As I was able to spend some time looking at the designers in these modules, I am amazed at how different every designer is from one another and how each designer has a certain style that flows through each of their projects. Take Louise Fili, for example. Her work is based upon patterns and a clean flow of design. That is why I was drawn to her work and wanted to re-create a poster in her style. It was fun to logically think about each individual piece of the pattern on the second poster. If you just glance at her work, you don’t really see all of the detail. It was great to closely examine Fili’s designs and find a way to create something that was visually similar.

As we started looking at genres, I was excited to dive deeper into Art deco. I have always loved art from this time period. It has a very vintage feel but yet can still be very modern. The Great Gatsby poster was my inspiration for the first poster I designed for the Art Deco genre. As ballet is a passion of mine, I have been privileged to see many of their Innovations productions. Most of the pieces are created by current dancers at Ballet West and are often a window into the direction Ballet West has taken in some of their more recent pieces. I really like the reflection of the artwork from one side to another. Also the combination of the straight, jagged lines with the curved lines really add to the feel of the 1920s time period. The stained glass window effect with the pointe shoe I think also conveys the Art Deco movement. If you look at the architecture over in Barcelona, Spain the shapes are not always the same. That is what I wanted to bring into this project. All of the shapes are different sizes and oriented differently so I think it creates a pretty iconic poster.

 

As we moved to focus on Social Awareness Campaigns, I was excited to take the Don’t Cross the Line campaign that Major League Soccer has been promoting for the last year and a half and create two posters that reflected that message. This campaign is focused on equality not only for those who are on the field, but also for those who are spectators at the games. I chose to go horizontal on the first poster because the type fit better. Also, you don’t often see a horizontal poster as you pass by a bulletin board. The second poster clearly shows that it is related to soccer, not only by the text but also by the illustration of the cleat on the ball.

 

I think all of these posters, including my two original design pieces, show how diverse my spectrum of design can be from using typography to basic illustration. I feel like I have opened up a new door in how I approach projects. I sometimes will get stuck in a rut when I need to come up with a new idea, but I think these projects have allowed me to look at things in a different way. It has given me an opportunity to use illustrations, type, and even photographs that I may not have thought of before. I hope that as I continue to move forward in projects I can continue to look outside of my normal inspiration and come up with some new, fresh ideas. I also hope to use more than just flat color on my posters and incorporate more of my own photography.