Rock Me Like A Hurricane

This poster is a product of The Hurricane Poster Project, which was started by designers as an effort to raise money for Katrina victims. This particular poster was made by two brothers, Don and Ryan Clark. I really really like the visual in this photo, the tree. I think it’s really well done.  I liked the ‘white space’ even though it’s not technically white, I think it is utilized extremely well.  I like that the four letters have red around them since the project sends proceeds to the American Red Cross, thus the red obviously fits. If you look closely you can see a white dove, on the left hand side, signaling peace.

March for Peace & Justice

This poster is very successful for a few different reasons. The first successful design element in the poster is the headline. The headline is big, bold, all caps, and each letter is a different bright color. The headline stands out which is important in a poster, especially one for an event such as this one. On first glance at the poster it is obvious that the poster is advertising a march. Creatively tied into the headline is the date of the march and the purpose of the march – for peace and justice.

The visual in this poster is very creative and ties together nicely with the headline. The legs of the people walking contain the same and similar variations of the colors present in the headline. The people walking is clever because it is a march, and each leg represents a different person of different genders and different races. The dove on top of the people represents peace. It is a simple white bird that blocks the actual bodies and faces of the people marching. It perfectly represents the idea of the whole march – to come together and walk to promote peace and justice for all (despite your race, socioeconomic background, etc.).

The specifics on the event are places in the bottom left of the poster in a small text box. The purpose of the march is to put an end to the reproduction of military weapons and to use the military budget for human needs instead. Beneath the brief description of the cause of the march is the date and place of the march.

This poster is successful in that it is visually appealing, it is creative, and it gets the message across. It is simple yet very dynamic and causes no confusion as to what the purpose of the poster is. My favorite aspect of it is the colors, and the dove on top of the people marching.

Ok Go’s Splat of Simplicity

Tough decision between this and Lady Gaga’s “The Monster Ball Tour” poster, let me tell you. I decided to choose this however, because I heart white space! This poster, compared to the rest at Sasquatch Music Festival, uses white space the most effectively. It’s actually one of the very few that actually have white space, which I believe is a big attention getter.

I also find that the “paint splatter” effect works great. It is another attention getter and a reference to one of their music videos that uses the “paint splatter” look in it (and is also done in one take … which is amazing!)

What I find does not work as well, though, is the font. It’s playful and matches the colors of paint, but I can’t get past thinking it just looks cheap and tacky. I think even a paint splatter looking font from dafont.com like “Paintball” would’ve even looked better! If it were me, I’d go for a hand drawn look that follows the look of the paint so it’s more cohesive. One good thing they did do with the font, though, is follow “The Z Layout” with it the information being in the last place people look. Overall, I love the poster and if I were at the music festival, I’d’ve gone!

Blog Assignment #4

As we are moving from the resume project to the poster design one, this week I would like you all to find an example of a poster design you feel is successful.

Please post the design to the blog and analyze the specific aspects that you find work and anything that could be done differently to make the design stronger.

As always please check out what other students have posted as I do not want any repeats and have fun!

conveyed chaos through text and design

My first reaction was that this design was very creative. I felt that the design very much promotes the story “The Metamorphosis” as the story is about a transformation and the confusion and chaos that follow. However I found it very interesting that my opinion was constantly being challenged every time I read another blog post. I agree with many of the opinions about this being confusing and  not very appealing to  a reader. However, I still felt that the designer was successful. The text conveys the message of an unstable environment very successfully. The combination of different serifs and san serif text contribute to the chaotic atmosphere. If the text was all in bold and black it would convey stability so I believe the use of color is very important in this design to convey instability I also find the idea of this conveying the Nazi flag as previously mentioned to be very successful.

The overall design is fairly easy to follow due to the balance formed with the text and colors used. The red used in the title draw our eyes to the number one on the next page. Our eyes then follow the author’s name: Franz Karka. I believe the pages are balanced due to the increase of font size from the F to the A of Kafka. The A being as large as it is balances out the size of the number one. I don’t believe that the design is overwhelming however the small text next to the number one is not easy to read nor is it appealing to the reader due to the slanted baselines. The only use for this design is to reiterate chaos and confusion as well as balance out the page however it is not done in an appealing way.

I believe the objective was to provide the correct mood of the book to those viewing this design which was done sucessfully with the application of type and positioning

The enormous 1 on the left of the text combined with the thick escalating type of Franz Kafka’s name segregates the text from the title. Initially, I was unsure if the title was in fact the title. The one and Kafka’s name almost frame the text, creating a harsh corner. I’m not sure about the point of the 1, although I do appreciate that it the same font as the ones in 1919, providing the title page and story with some continuity. However it may be better if the giant 1 were on the right side of the page so that you don’t have the isolation of the title. As for the type used in Kafka’s name, I liked the sans serifs. The whole design is very edgy and I think that using serifs would have detracted from it. I also like that the M in metamorphosis is (I think) the same typeface as Franz Kafka. It almost suggests that he is the one making this change into a bug.

I don’t take issue with the type used in metamorphosis. While there is no clear progression from one thing to another, the helter-skelter lettering adds to the mystery of the story. The first o is perfectly circular which draws your eye to the middle of the word. It is not bold, or the biggest letter, but it still packs a punch in the middle of a confusing box of type. Further, the word metamorphosis combines lowercase and uppercase letters. This decision augments the random lettering. The little “the” on top of the m is easy to miss. It is in the same typeface as the m but it fits neatly on top of the first upward stroke.

The type used in the actual story is obviously serif. I think it’s fitting as the man turns into an insect and the words sort of crawl across the page as if they, too, were insects. I am a little confused by the random sans serif, red words. I think the red ties nicely in to the creepiness of the story, but I don’t understand why those words were selected and why they are sans serif. They do break up the story so it looks even less text-heavy, but that is hardly an issue with this story.

Running Eyes

The design for The Metamorphosis leaves the viewer’s eyes running around the page much like the bug the protagonist becomes. The first piece if text that catches the viewer’s eye in the large red 1. The one’s size and bold color demand attention and lead the eye down to Franz Kafka’s name and over to the novel’s title. I like how the type size in Kafka’s name increases as it runs across the bottom of the page. It compliments the slanted text above it and gives that half of the layout some consistency and flow. I also like the changing typeface used to spell out metamorphosis on the left half of the design. They really emphasize the meaning of the word and the change in the novel itself.

However, I do not believe the two concepts work well together. It gives the viewer to much to read and no where to rest. I find that my eyes crawl over the entire layout and do not slow down to read any of the text. I think that the design would be more effective if there was less diagonal text and more white space to balance out the different fonts and the large amount of text. I think a slightly cleaner, simpler look would be more visually appealing.

Metamorphosis Analysis

I found that the design was a little too much because they combined so many different categories of typeface into the word metamorphosis making it hard to read. The sans-serif used for the “THE” and the “M” at the beginning of metamorphosis wasn’t bad, however, mixing that with the other quirky letters and placing them in that format was more of a headache.  Also I think the letters in metamorphosis being different font sizes is not really attractive. All of the letters are small x heights compared to the M and the lower case letters in the word are large x height compared to the uppercase letters in the metamorphosis. Lastly, I was not a huge fun of the sentences on the right side of the page because the slanted fixture mad it hard for me to concentrate on what I was reading.  In order to make the type better I might have used one type straight through and changed it to a more grotesque sans-serif such as Helvetica or Franklin Gothic.

On the other hand I did like the position of the text and how it looks as though it is continuing onto the next page. I also like the use of white space which I think brings more focus to the lettering. Although I was not a huge fan of the type of letters used for Metamorphosis I understand that because metamorphosis is the change in form from one stage to the next they were trying to show a change in each letter which was a good way to help the audience visualize the meaning.  Lastly, I did like the lettering and position of the “Franz Kafka,” because it made it look as though the word was being screamed at the audience which is a good way to draw attention.

Dazed and Confused

After staring at the Metamorphosis graphic for a few minutes, I’m still not exactly sure what the designer was going for with this graphic. The graphic is meant to be very playful, fun, and colorful, but to me it is a big eyesore. Also, I see no metamorphosis. While each letter is of a different typeface, there is no general progression form one typeface to another that could truly be considered a “metamorphosis”.

I do like that fact that all of the stresses in the word metamorphosis are in red. If you say metamorphosis out load, each syllable has a stress, and the stressed letter is in red. I find that to be an ingenius idea and applaud the designer for that. Also, I like the right hand page. The zigzag pattern is appealing and eyecatching, and the way that Franz Kafka beautifully compliments the zigzagging pattern above it.

However, if I were the designer of this graphic, I would have used similar typefaces that gradually and continually change until a metamorphosis is complete from the M to the S. Also, I would have each letter grow larger or smaller as the word metamorphosis continued, in the way that Franz Kafka is written.

Mixed Messages

If I focus simply on the typefaces used in this design, I like it.  I love how the designer mixed and matched fonts in the title metamorphosis.  There is a mix of serif and sans-serif, caps and lowercase letters.  Without actual pictures, designs can be bland so I think the designer was wise to make the title more visual.  I also like how the “M” lines up with the “1” on the next page.  This, along with the consistent color scheme and the “M” that matches the “FRANZ KAFKA”, is what ties the two pages together.

I also want to point out that the book metamorphosis the first two words “As Gregor” are in the same font as “Franz Kafka” in this design.  The only difference is that the font in Franz Kafka’s name starts small and grows whereas the beginning words of the book start large and shrink to match the body text size.  Originally I questioned the designer’s purpose for making that connection because it is unlikely to be noticed unless the viewer had looked up an online version of the story as I did.   However, I think it works.  I like how the “F” is small and the letters grow, evolve, and morph into the final large “A.”

One thing regarding the type that I’m weary about is the zigzagged text on the right page.  As hard as I try, I cannot read it.  I feel like the designer compromised readability for white space.  There’s so much extra space that the designer could have used to make that typography legible.  Something else that caught my eye is the underlined “is” in Metamorphosis.  Adding the underline there forced the “i” and the “s” to have a different x-height then the rest of the letters that are stacked on top of each other.  On one hand the line matches the baseline of the “M” and separates the text from the numbers.  On the other it takes away from the consistency aspect of the design.

Overall, I think the typography of this design is unique and interesting.  However, I believe that a design should convey that feeling of what it is representing.  Metamorphosis happened to be on my high school’s list of required reading and so I do know the plot of the story.  A man transforms into a bug, his family grows to resent him and he is powerless to change the situation.  When he finally dies his family, relieved, moves on.  The symbolic meaning of this book is ambiguous but whatever your interpretation, the mood conveyed remains heavy and hopeless.  Yet this design is full of life and energy.  To me, playful lettering and text that zigzags across the page does not quite communicate the right message.