Project 3 documentation
2/24/19
Project 3 is an exercise in creating a type specimen poster playing with variables we learned in class, and out of many, I focused more on certain variables like position, color, and text size. I tried to use minimum color to keep the poster easy to read with clear hierarchy so that the viewers can effectively follow the content and flow of the poster.
Initial rough sketch
When I first looked at the typeface ‘Didot’, it gave me a very classic, polite, and vivid feeling. I always like to start with whatever comes to my mind first, so I started to work without any color to focus more on the hierarchy and representation of the typeface. On the first sketch where Didot, Firmin Didot, and 1781 are right aligned, I was inspired by Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. While I was there, I thought the museum’s logo was very clean and simple, but unique. It was interesting to me that they chose to right-align the texts, which gave me a unique look but also well balanced.
With other elements positioned at wanted places, I started to work with color which I chose contrast colors to maximize clarity. Because I was inspired from Van Gogh Museum, initial color that came to my mind was orange, which Netherlands uses to represent the country. Knowing that blue and orange are used together very often in logos or any color representation like sports teams, I chose to use a softer blue to balance the orange I chose. From the first mini-crit, I received positive feedbacks on the use of colors and use of characters to separate other contents. But some also pointed out that not enough contrast distracts them from focusing on the content, which made me to rethink about the color choice.
More iteration
I felt like the idea is not bad, but also I should try to explore other ways to create posters. The third landscape poster is actually also part of additional iteration, to find new ways by using space differently.
After creating couple more posters with different colors, layouts, and hierarchy, I was set on using red for the name of the typeface, black for the background, and white for the text. Until then, I was really set on keeping the characters in same place, but I suddenly thought that surrounding the main paragraph with characters can make the readers more curious by making the characters less visible but always in their sight. I personally thought this idea was fun but also has point, so I decided to implement it to my final design.
Final Design
For the final design, I decided to get rid of the quote “Historical Revival” because it did not go along too well with other contents in the poster. Black and red give very strong and vivid impression, which does not go along well with the quote “Historical revival”.
Reflect
One thing that I am not satisfied with is the printout of the poster, which did not give enough space on the edges. Some feedbacks I received from the final-crit is that I have very little space on the edge of the poster, and the color difference between the two vertical lines of characters. After checking the illustrator, both character lines have exactly same properties which I do not know why it looks very different. I feel like these distracted the audience from the main content of the poster, since these errors make the viewers uncomfortable. Personally the biggest take from this project is to double check the printout before, so that it accurately shows what I want to show.
