So here are the four stages of development that my poster design went through once I had got a general idea for the content and a loose theme for the 3 designs. The first one, discouraging swearing, is coloured red, to go with the traffic light theme that is continued through the next two poster designs. I wrote this post over the few days/weeks we've been working on this project, so the way I've written things may seem a little strange or hard to read- sorry about that!
Below is the first design, with a picture taken from the internet to illustrate where my image will go so I can work on layout. I laid out the text as I thought it should go, with a main title at the top, followed by a tagline, a fact to reinforce my point and then a final 'warning' sentence at the bottom. And actually, the text at the top was originally black, but I thought the white was brighter and more eye catching., therefore more effective. I made some words the opposite colour to the rest of the sentence so that they would stand out as positive / negative reinforcing words. I wanted a border on my design but I didn't want it to be really boring so I made two rectangles and overlapped them, to make a sort of 3D effect, a little like a shadow I suppose. Not sure how I could improve it, possibly change the font and have a play about with the layout..move some things around!
Below is the second version of this design that I created. On this version I changed the text font to 'Impact' so that the text would really stand out more on the poster. Making the text bigger and changing the font meant I had to resize the image slightly but I don't think this particularly affects the design in a negative way, as the text is what really matters. Also, it would make a bigger difference if the image was mine, so perhaps when I get my own imagery for this design then I will resize it again. Having bolder text means the poster will stand out from the wall where it would be stuck. At this point, I am fairly happy with the way my design looks, however I think it could definitely be improved with some playing about with the layout, as I suggested above.
FINALLY had a mess with the layout! And it's looking better already I think. Making the text even bigger to fill the page just makes it appear so much bolder and therefore my visual communication is immediately more clear. I got rid of the black part of the border to give myelf a little extra space to work with. I moved the tagline up to underneath the title, to add more impact to it, and to break up the heavy amount of text at the bottom of the page. I got rid of the image too, which made me more open minded to what the image could be of. I know I want the image to be photographic, so this might mean visiting the Construction dept. and taking some photos if this is possible! If not, it'll mean grabbing some health and safety gear and getting some volunteers to dress up for me and taking photos. I was quite set on the idea of having a photo of a child but, as the poster is trying to discourage swearing in case children copy, it would (and should) be hard to capture a child swearing that also has photographic constent from it's parents! So maybe my theme of 'childish behaviour' will have to be revised. All I really need now is a pictutre and I think this design will be complete, giving me a good idea of what to make the next two designs look like.
This is my final design for the swearing poster. As you can see, I've added a photograph (that I took!). the photo is of a classmate, Jordan, posing as if he has hit his thumb with a hammer and swearing because of the pain. In the end I had to borrow some health and safety gear and tools from art and create my own photoshoot :D I added some effects to the photo in photoshop, just generally brightening and contrasting the colours to make the image clearer. I also created a speech bubble and wrote symbols associated with swearing inside it to show that Jordan was swearing.
I think this design has a good text / image balance because neither one of them is too overpowering and they complement each other well. The weight of the text makes it stand out on the background, which balances out the image. The text at the top grabs the reader's attention and must engage them within 2-3 seconds, which I think it does. The design is not too simple that people don't give it a second glance, but it's not too complex that it puts them off reading further or following the instructions. The text is very sharp against the background as the colours all stand out but complement each other at the same time. The tones in the image flow nicely with the general colour scheme- red bricks, red gloves, white where the light is and black where the shadow is. The overall aesthetic value of the design is very good in my opinion, and I think that Construction workers would appreciate the imagery and follow the instructions. The poster is bright, instructional, clear, sharp and eye catching. Spot on!
