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Posters (The Non Human Kind)
mully
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Okay well, it's "posteR" right now, I haven't started the others quite yet. And I needed a thread anyway, I'm going to be doing a lot of crap in these upcoming weeks, so.
CRITS PLEASE. What works, what doesn't? I am new to this.
(edit: oops, caught a typo already. NO REFUN indeed. If you fun once, you can't fun again!)
CRITS PLEASE. What works, what doesn't? I am new to this.
(edit: oops, caught a typo already. NO REFUN indeed. If you fun once, you can't fun again!)
mully on
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or is there anything else neat i could do to it?
(i keep looking at text effect stuff on photoshop tutorial sites..)
here's something else i did (a long time ago) ... just as an ad for our intranet site
here's another one i did for an event that just passed
(the event went totally awesomely, and i got lots of compliments on the poster. which .. doesnt mean much, theyre insurance people. but i still like compliments!)
except that i learned that the "bar" is actually the "entertainment room" and that we shouldnt be "selling" we should be "giving away free ice cream for a minimum donation of 2 dollars" because it takes liability off of us
(thus the huge small-text crap in the first poster i posted)
i know what i want in terms of graphics and text and the information i need
i know what info should be big and what should be small
i just never know .. where to put them for a maximum effect. :<
is this any better?
what do i do with the empty spot .. random ball?
i want the prices to be different than the "balls" because i know people will get confused at the difference in price unless its really clear
im also trying to ignore my incredible urge to put a border on EVERYTHING EVER
Mind you, this is quick and dirty, but with all of the opposing angles you have going on if I were you I'd just take the final leap and take it wholly towards the Soviet/Propaganda/Russian design sense.
Also mind you, this mock up has problems of its own, but being the originator of all the info you know needs to go in there, I figure you can balance those design element issues a little more thoughtfully than I did.
Anyhow, we can go have that good cry now.
i like it and i don't like it
it's better than my first one, that is for damn sure, but i am not a fan of the "split" down the diagonal -- it makes me feel, since the title does not go across it, that it is an afterthought.
Is it wise to have the unattractive text (the stuff about DONT USE YOUR EXPENSE ACCOUNTS and FREE APPETIZERS ARENT UNLIMITED, FATTY) so ...readable and right up there? Above location, even?
(I am critiquing yours to help myself understand, I don't necessarily disagree with what you've done here.)
Also you are kidding about the no refunds being that big, right? I might just be one of those bastards that wants to make things like that legible, but nearly invisible, in hopes that people WONT read it, will give us their money, try to back out, then we profit, because they can't follow tiny instructions.
INSTAGRAM
Okay. I personally don't like angles like that, but if it's more pleasing to everyone else, I guess I shouldn't argue.
I like top + bottom heavy designs :<
The diagonal did not start out directly bisecting it as it does now--oops. It shouldn't evenly bisect the piece, but the intention was always to have the title butt up against it, like so.
http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles3/103858/projects/235386/1038581243618976.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o197/jackie_hudon/OstEstImaPosterWEB.jpg
It's really hard to find genuine examples anymore, since more of the internet if flooded with posters relating to the recent 2008 election, but the above are a couple of contemporary designs that sort of evoke what I'm saying.
As far as where to place the fine print info, I think it's kind of dubious to make it as small and as hidden as possible. It's info. It's important, it should be placed somewhere a person can read it.
INSTAGRAM
?
i am super hesitant to remove the small print from being .. small print. it saps all the fun out of the thing - even if it is information, and kind of important, the asterisks in the main body should let people know to look for it -- and it's like a size 10! that is so readable and out of the way of destroying the fun.
what if i put it up the side or something?
it's basically turning into a disclaimer for us :S
And I think the fine print is fine where it is, honestly. Just change it's color so it's legible and I see that as a pretty solid design.
THANKS MARS YOU ARE THE BEST
i hope you will also help me when im doing the baking one
I would say the billiards poster has way too much empty space. There's literally a horizontal strip of 1/5th of the poster which has no text in it. If you cut it out, people probably wouldn't mind. I would make all the words bigger, the title smaller, and/or put it on a landscape layout to optimize use of space.
Mars' layout uses the space more, but about 1/5th of it is still just empty space off to the side. Coming from three years of literary magazine layout, I've always thought it was best to distribute all elements on a piece of paper evenly. Huge empty areas are a waste of space and paper.
In terms of posters, I've never been bothered by something being "crowded." Like, what does that have to do with a poster? That's like saying a page in a book is crowded with words. They're words, they can be read when they're close together. For instance:
This reads just as well for me. Now I'm not saying this looks better (the entire design has been shredded apart), but my point is, all the same content is there in almost half the amount of space. If you're making huge posters, then you're probably wasting paper, because unless you have pictures or graphics, there is no reason to make a poster for "billiards night" bigger than 8.5x11. If you're being commissioned to do these, I guess that's not your fault, and ultimately it doesn't really matter, but I guess I'm just trying to make my point of "Wow, that's a lot of empty space" sound like I actually have a reason for saying that rather than an empty comment.
The ice cream pants one distributes the content better.
I don't see a problem with the gradient. I'd even go so far as to say it's an example of how gradients should be used.
Also, I can be repaid in free meals or appetizers*.
[tiny]I don't care of they are in limited quantity.[/tiny]
you guys would be terrified to see the kind of thing i would create if i were just making something for myself.
edit: Mars when you come to visit us (and you'd better *fist shake* i will remember this and treat you to some radical vancouver appetizers.)
easier, i think.
I don't know, I could be wrong. I'd like to see what you make on your own time to compare to this. It might actually not be that scary.
Aaaaand here's this.
Bomb turned around and said, "that looks just like a propaganda poster" and to be honest i really had no idea what that meant specifically, so i looked it up -- and uh. yeah. so it does.
probably changing that bottom text to black... so it'll be easier to read.
This looks way better!
As far as the poster you just posted, I would leave a little more space at the top. Drop the title down just a bit at least. Some purposeful white space will make it easier to jump into the poster's headline.
Edit: A couple of hints: Look at your poster at a much smaller preview size to see what elements jump out and what the focal point is. Also think about ease of digestment. This version of the billiards poster is very easy to grab the important information on. Good job! Keep practicing!
(I agree and i've changed it, just curious if there's a science to this or some kind of mathematical formula)
The Elements of Graphic Design by Alex White. It's only like $25 msrp. It's a really good book.
As far as the text being too close to the top of the Canada poster, just remember that white space can be purposeful and add quality. That it can draw the reader to the important elements. And remember that people (at least in the english language) read top to bottom, left to right. That can help you avoid putting elements in dead zones.
EDIT: Think of white space as a pathway for the reader.
also, the texture iiiiiiis.. a paper texture. let me see if i can find it.
edit: i can't find it. but i have it on my harddrive!
Also, I don't know why I didn't realize this like six hours ago, but the part of the fine print that reads "Contact Adam blah blah blah", that seems to me like it should be larger and more pronounced somewhere.
It seems like important info.
Other than that, I stand by my earlier statement of "Solid Design™"
The Happy Canada Day one is nice and simple, but looks like you have some problematic kerning (the space between the characters; how the letters sit next to each other) on the bottom text. I'd increase the spacing a touch to make it easier to read.
But basically this is decent stuff -- the main things to remember with poster design are, prioritise the information based on getting the viewer's attention/importance; and stick with one or two typefaces and limit your colour pallette to keep things consistant and cohesive.
Many people seem to fail at these simple yet important elements but you're doing well, so that's good!