Composition and layout

Member lesson

Poster composition

Lesson 25 of 27 in Composition and layout.

What Makes A Good Poster Design? | Design Lesson · Gareth David Studio
Lesson

A poster is the simplest brief in graphic design and the hardest to do well, because there is nowhere to hide. One surface, one idea, and a viewer who has not chosen to look and will not look for long.

the hole is the figurethe disc is the figure
The same shape read as object or as background.
A cyclist passing a wall of cluttered posters turns her head towards the one poster showing a single large red circle.
A cyclist rides past a wall of busy posters, and only the one with a single bold shape catches her eye. A poster gets a few seconds from across a road.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A single surface read quickly, usually at a distance, usually in passing.”

    • Interruption
    • International Typographic Style
    • Poster
    • Baseline grid
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “How long a viewer actually gives it. Frequently under two seconds.”

    • Crop line
    • New Wave
    • Reading time
    • Negative space
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The constraint that makes posters work.”

    • One idea
    • Bistable image
    • Crop
    • Pacing

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