Following on from my previous critique I have decided what visual style I am going to create my work within, although a logo and first three screens for an app have been created I am still lacking in created media to show off my visuals to my client, as the client has specifically asked for a range of posters to be created I have decided to move forward by creating my first range of posters, although I have no solid colour scheme at the minute the black and gold seem on the app appears to work effectively. However, I still think that experimentation and variance are vital to creating a successful brand.
Given my previous blog entries, particularly those concerning my three concepts presentation, I have created a range of posters using the ideas taken from concept three, using large headings to attract attention and then layering body copy and subheadings on top of the very large titles to give people information once they have been drawn into the posters.
After trying out a variety of different colours and styles for my first poster I think that both the black and gold, as well as the off white and red colour schemes seem to be working the best. However I feel the design of the bottom right poster is most effective, the large scale logo in the background allows the viewer to identify the poster with other content created within the MET Living brand and well as leaving enough blank space within the borders of the poster to allow it to breathe and create an effective minimalist look, the addition of a third color into the poster allows me to layer body copy onto the headings without worrying too much about a large loss in legibility. An additional change made from the app and previous posters is the darkened yellow, I felt this was necessary as the extremely bright yellow would not only perhaps print out incorrectly when converted into CMYK but it would also not allow enough contrast when placed under the off white, hurting the legibility of the thinner subheadings seen both at the bottom and top of the poster.
I have used two separate typefaces for this poster, originally I wanted to create the whole poster using just the one typeface to strengthen the sense of minimalism and simplicity, however, I found that the typeface that I was using for subheadings and body copy (Bronova) was very effective for use in small point sizes, however when converted into the large point sizes used for the “STOP” of this poster, I found that the typefaces’ letterforms were not round enough, this made the letterforms fall off the page too much and made the “STOP” almost illegible and certainly made it lose some of its impact, the “STOP” needed to be instantly legible from a far distance, something that was lost when Bronoba was used. As a result, I searched around for a more rounded typeface (Nimbus) and as a result, the “STOP” was able to be put into a larger point size and still remain on the page creating a shocking and extremely impactful message coupled alongside the slogan fitting within the header and footer that would become legible once the poster was approached.
Further improvements for this poster would be to include a greater amount of body copy and information about the new MET Living, however, this would need to be done very carefully as to not ruin the impact of the simple poster made above, perhaps simply including a small QR code that would take you to the app would suffice and allow viewers to gain enough information about MET Living while still being presented with aesthetically pleasing, clear and impactful poster design.
Aidan's Graphics Blog 