the Poster Police

brain-food: Supernatural Reimagined Season Postersby Risa...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:19:03 -0400

brain-food:

Supernatural Reimagined Season Posters
by Risa Rodil

Future Inspiration!

Infographics round 3: Using an online infographic maker

girlinthefootiepajamas — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:38:00 -0400

Hey all!

So, as promised, I”m focusing todays blog post on using an online editing tool to make infographics.

This infographic is pretty simple, basically the goal of it was just to see how the tool worked and get a feel for how I like it.

After a bit of searching, I found easel.ly, a free infographics site that is still in Beta. (Word to the wise: they have a good thing going- keep an eye on this site as it moves through testing!)

When you enter the site you are greeted with some themes to choose from right off the bat:

Granted- the number of themes are limited. I’m interested to see how this changes over time. But the themes they do have are very useful! I chose this simple theme and began work:

The nice thing about the themes is that you can keep as much or as little of it as you want. Since I really liked the color scheme and layout, I kept most of that and ditched the information its self in favor of my own. Not having to worry about color picking and layout saved me a LOT of time on the project!

The other nice thing is that all of the parts of this poster are editable. So, instead of inserting new text boxes I could just change the text that was already there

as I saw fit. Again- huge timesaver

The major downside to the tool was the lack of choices available There were only 24 colors given to work with, which is pretty limited. The backgrounds and shapes were few as well, and you don’t have the flexibility to build your own shapes that a more powerful program would give you. The program did, however, give you the option to upload your own graphics to add to the piece (which I did with the bike-parts capitol) which helps this problem quite a bit.

Overall, I would rate my experience very high. Though infographic makers don’t give you the flexibility you have in a program like Adobe Photoshop, making this infographic was MUCH MUCH MUCH FASTER than last weeks infographic due to all the pre-sets. If I had to make something specialized, i’d stick with photoshop- but if you need something NOW that is clean-looking and easy to understand (or if design/photoshop/et) is not your strong point) easel.ly is a good way to go.

Now that I think about it, if you didn’t have access to photoshop and had to make something like… I don’t know… posters for a student org (full circle!) you could probably get good mileage out of these infographic makers with a little creativity (as per Cameron’s comment last week… they really aren’t that different at all)

BONUS- their templates will make things like color matching and layout easier for the design-challenged student org leader. This is something I will keep in mind for my next blog post. (PS- expect a slight delay in that post as it’s finals season and studying is a thing I need to do)

Jill, why don't more posters have QR codes so I can get all the information into my calendar or phone?

girlinthefootiepajamas — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:34:26 -0400

More of my posters or more posters in general? Mine don’t simply because i don’t know how to do that (but now you have given me the idea I will definitely look into it- thanks!) But I couldn’t tell you why others don’t. Maybe it’s the same issue

(All information contained on infographic was found using the US...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:17:12 -0400

(All information contained on infographic was found using the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey)

Here is my first attempt at an infographic! Hooray!

And WOW was it a bigger task than I expected! So I will use today’s blog post to go through how I created this infographic.

First (and most importantly) I had to go information-hunting! This was much more difficult than I expected. I picked a topic (change in bike commuting over time) and then scoured websites like the Census Bureau for information that I could use. You would be surprised at how difficult it was to find information on the national average and a city average from the same year! Here are some screenshots of my search:

Once I had the information, I put it into a graph using Microsoft Excel. I used Excel so that I could make sure the bars on the graph were proportionate to each other- otherwise what is the point in having a bar graph in the first place!

After that, it was a simple matter of bringing the graphs into Photoshop and designing the thing in a way that is easily readable and (hopefully) visually appealing!

Overall, I’d say it was not too bad for a first attempt, but it was time extremely consuming. In other words, there’s GOTTA be a better way! In researching for this post, I found some interesting looking websites that promise to make infographic-making as easy as pie! (I always thought that was a weird statement, as pie is not so easy to make in my opinion…. ) so FOR NEXT WEEK: I will explore Visual.ly to see if I have any better infographic luck on that front!

Adventure in Infographics

girlinthefootiepajamas — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 15:51:00 -0400

I have begun to realize that over the weeks my blog has become a little … stale. So this week, instead of focusing on a poster, I am going to introduce you all to my new pursuit: Infographics!

WARNING: I’m pretty new at this, so we will be learning together!

To begin: What IS an infographic Jill? I’m glad you asked! According to Wikipedia: “Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly.^[1]^[2] They can improve cognition by utilizing graphics to enhance the human visual system’s ability to see patterns and trends.^[3]^[4] The process of creating infographics can be referred to as data visualization, information design, or information architecture.^[2]”

So basically, you take something complicated and condense it into one easy-to-read (and hopefully visually appealing!) graphic - This is looking more and more like something I can handle!

Now that we know what in infographic is, what makes a good infographic?

According to this handy infographic on visual.ly,

It is a combination of Data, Story, Shareability, and Design

Well alright Visual.ly, those look like pretty good criteria to judge and infographic on, so lets try it!

I have found two examples of infographics regarding the same topic on the web, lets see which one is better:

First off, we have one from food blogger Celia M, author of High Heeled Life.com

Data: Right off the bat this graphic scores points in the data department. Each section has its own set of stats, and the pictures are proportionate to those stats. Very well done.

Story: Obviously this infographic is cleverly showing people the difference between the portion sizes we should be eating and are eating. An infographic was a good way to present this information. Therefore, I rank this very well for the story category

Design: unfortunately, this infographic just isn’t extremely visually appealing. the font is plain, and there is so much lettering that I would tend to bet people will give up reading it after a few sections. Adding a little color and moving the information around in a creative way would do a lot for this graphic.

Shareability: I think the design problems play a huge role in the low score I am giving this graphic for shareability. The fact of the matter is, if it’s boring, people won’t share it. It is possible that it would be spread if the right audience got a hold of it (IE a group of portion-control bloggers?)

This second infographic is by the CDC

Data: upon first look, this infographic doesn’t seem to be very information-rich, but look closer! Each of the portions has the average size listed on it, and the graph behind everything shows exactly how much those portions have increased since the 1950’s! There is just as much information here as there was in the other infographic- it’s just more cleverly placed. Bonus points for having the information sourced at the bottom- very helpful

Story: from the very first look you can tell what the story is here- the increasing size of portions over time.

Design: This graphic uses colors, fonts, and sizing well to create a piece of information that is visually appealing.

Shareability: This is difficult. Even though I would consider this to be a very good infographic, i’m not sure that it’s actually something that would go viral. The fact of the matter is the content is only interesting to a very small audience. Sure, this graphic might wake people up to the explosion of portion size in the last 50 years, but we all KNOW portions have been expanding. I just can’t see this as something people would be rushing to paste on their Facebook walls.

TOP SECRET PLAN FOR NEXT WEEK: now that I know what makes a good infographic, I’m going to use this week to make one of my own! Check back next Sunday to see how it goes!

This week I am evaluating some more of my own past work under my...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:38:00 -0400

This week I am evaluating some more of my own past work under my new guidelines. This poster is for the 14th Grade Players production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, a zany production that smashes every single one of Shakespeare’s plays into a two-hour time slot

What I liked most about doing this poster was that I was able to combine many different mediums and combine them into one new whole. The picture in the center on the burnt paper was hand drawn, the paper soaked in tea to look old, and then scanned into my computer to be placed on the poster. The title letters were actually cut out of a magazine, but the rest of the poster was computer generated. Of all the posters I’ve made, I would easily say I had the most fun with this one.

Now, on to the evaluation:

Tells a story: I think it does. Again, this is where evaluating my own work can get a little difficult because I know the whole backstory. The props coming out of Shakespeare’s skull are representative of important props from the show, and I think that the bright colors and wild design indicate that the show is a comedy.

Can be read from more than 5 feet away: The title can be. If I were to do the poster again I would make all the other lettering a bit larger because, while clear, it is a bit small.

Is interesting and eye-catching: The point of the lime green was to catch attention, and I think that is successful. The lines on the drawing its self should have been darkened so they would stand out more, because the drawing is a bit difficult to see.

Has a simple, uncluttered design: Even though there are a lot of elements on this poster, their size and placement are enough to keep it from looking too cluttered.

Uses clear language and images in a logical sequence: Makes sense to me! (but…. I’m biased… )

Summarizes key points without excess detail: Yes!

Invokes Intended Feeling: I think the look on Shakespeare’s face is what does it… you know this show is going to be wild!

Creativity: This is where I shout out to the director, Kiran Edelstein, who came up with the original concept of having items falling out of Shakespeare’s head. I’d never seen anything like it, and was excited to make it happen!

This is a poster for Forbidden Planet Production’s...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 13:52:51 -0400

This is a poster for Forbidden Planet Production’s presentation of The Wild Party, a racy musical set in the 20’s.

Tells a story: A suggestive show like Wild Party comes with its own set of challenges for a poster designer. How does one make a poster that is appropriate for all audiences, when the show its self is not? I think using the silhouette was a very elegant solution to this problem. It keeps the poster its self classy, but it’s obvious that this is not a show to bring children to. Additionally, the fonts and colors allude to the decade the show is set in subtly. Here are some examples of how other companies handled this same show differently, from more suggestive to more benign. I think FPP’s version walks the line between the two options very well.

Can be read from more than 5 feet away: The most important parts can be

Is interesting and eye-catching:The colors are well chosen. The way the yellow stands out on the black and grey is very eye catching!

Has a simple, uncluttered design: I actually find it a bit wordy. I would have omitted the quote altogether, or turned it into its own graphical element. Additionally, the block of text at the bottom gets a bit boring. Varying the font would have made it less so.

Uses clear language and images in a logical sequence: Check!

Summarizes key points without excess detail: In general it does, but as I said before, the quote at the top is too much. I also would have left off the choreographer and musical directors names in the poster. That is what the show program is for!

Invokes Intended Feeling: Definitely. Bonus points for difficulty!

Creativity: Creativity is perhaps the best part of this poster. I Googled around a bit and found nothing online that approaches this show in this manner. It is a bold design without being exactly what everyone else has done. Overall, this poster is one of the better posters floating around campus this week.

Moving up in the world?

girlinthefootiepajamas — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:22:05 -0500

Hey all, I just thought I’d write a short blurb to update you on relevant points in my life. You all know that I am working on building my skills in poster design, but what you may not know is that I am also learning some html and css, so that eventually I will be able to translate those skills to the web as well. Recently I have been working on a project for my Online Journalism Workshop class where we were expected to make a 3min photo-and-audio slideshow, write a full web-tailored journalistic article, code the page in html from scratch, and make the project live on the web.

I thought I’d go ahead and post the link here for anyone who is interested.

Comments are always appreciated!

Thanks!

Posters 101

girlinthefootiepajamas — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:21:00 -0500

This week I realized (with a little bit of help from my Social Media professor…. ok… a LOT of help from my professor…. ) that on this blog I am evaluating posters with very little criteria for doing so.

Apparently my readers have been asking ”Jill, I agree, your posters are better than the original versions, but what makes them so?”

To answer this question I bring you: Posters 101 by Jill Harclerode (with a little help from the July 2002 University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences publication: Creating Effective Posters…. ok… a LOT of help… I sense a theme going on here)

The University of Arizona sets up 5 main criterion for a good poster. They are as follows:

Tells a story.

Can be read from more than 5 feet away.
Is interesting and eye-catching.
Has a simple, uncluttered design.
Uses clear language and images in a logical sequence.
Summarizes key points without excess detail.

I will add two points of my own to ASU’s Criteria, they include ability of a poster to invoke intended feeling (so, an advertisement for a basketball game should appear bright and exciting, while a poster advertising a somber play should be a bit dark and brooding) and a creativity “bonus” (It rewards unique-ness, which is different from “interesting and eye-catching. A poster can be interesting, eye-catching, and overdone!)

These 8 points give us a pretty effective way to evaluate posters and point out problem areas in design, and make changes that are going to add to the overall visual appeal of the artwork.

So! Without further ado, on to this weeks poster!

This poster is for the Fourteenth Grade Players (one of 4 student theater companies at GW) production of Why Torture is Wrong and The People Who Love Them.

Effectiveness:

Tells a story: I would argue that it passes this test. The show is supposed to be a bit odd and the poster gets at that. However I’m not quite sure weather I should be laughing at the chicken, or horrified.

Can be read from more than 5 feet away: Eh… mostly. The second half of the title is way to small and dark colors on dark colors make it very difficult to read.

Is interesting and eye-catching: It has a fake dead chicken on it hanging from a noose… I would stop and look!

Has a simple, uncluttered design: the background is way too busy and the dark colors compete with the lettering in a way that makes the poster seem more cluttered than it is. It doesn’t seem as if the designer gave much thought to the layout of the poster. Additionally, The crop around the chicken is messy, which adds to the overall clutter of the design.

Uses clear language and images in a logical sequence: The designer seems to denote importance of various elements through positioning on the poster rather than size of the lettering. For a really effective poster you want to do both: Put the most important information in a prominent position (this is not always the top of the page, but can be) AND in a large font. The way the designer has done it here, it appears as if the location and price of the show are more important than the second-half of the title.

Summarizes key points without excess detail: Initially yes, the designer did a great job of putting only the most important information on the poster. However, because the majority of the text is in one block of font, the poster actually appears to be very wordy. You can put more information on a poster if it is spread out in a visually appealing way.

Invokes Intended Feeling: the show is a comedy that has a bit of a dark twist. The poster certainly points to the comedy aspect, and I think both the noose around the chicken and the red in the lettering were supposed to hint at the dark flair, but it doesn’t quite do it for me. The font misses the mark , and the brightness of the blue background paired with the plastic chicken makes me think of clown gags rather than dark humor.

Creativity: While the dead chicken is clearly enough to make this critic take a second look at the poster, It doesn’t present information in a new or innovative way.

Here is a poster for the same show that really excels where 14ths version is weak. The scene depicted here is simply brilliant. The look on the old man’s face, and the fact that he is holding a cup of coffee, makes it obvious that the scene is meant to be humorous- while the questionable situation we are seeing alludes to the shows dark notes. Notice that Gamm Theater’s version of the poster actually has more information on it than 14th’s, but the expert spacing and varying of font saves it from coming off as overly wordy

This week I’m critiquing the poster for the GW Shakespeare...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:58:43 -0500

This week I’m critiquing the poster for the GW Shakespeare Company’s presentation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. (NOTE: The first two posters above are GW Shakespeare’s versions, the third is my redesign)

There is one very important thing designers need to keep in mind when they are doing poster work for a well-known show: you MUST be creative. The fact of the matter is, people have thousands of opportunities over a lifetime to see Macbeth, in poster design you are trying to show them WHY they need to see YOUR COMPANIES version of the show . These are really the time to be most creative. Additionally, because the show is so well-known, you have less of a responsibility to explain what the show is about, and more freedom to play with your design. Here is one design that I found on google which I thought was particularly well-done:

But, on the GW Shakespeare’s design-

What the GW Shakespeare posters do well:

You know by now that I love it when the actors are pictured in the poster, so that was a nice touch. Also, having a series of posters that obviously go together is a fantastic idea. First of all, it gets more actors on the posters, but it also is a great way to catch attention. It means that you can hang many posters that advertise the same event in one area with out appearing too monotonous. (also poster lovers like me will make it their goal to find every poster in the set, kind of like a little game- a game the designer wins because they get more visibility!)

Things the GW Shakespeare posters don’t do so well:

It comes off as awkward. The bottom chunk of black on both the original posters is spaced in a way that is actually painful to look at. Also, in both posters you have at least one actor or actress breaking character. You definitely do not want that as an advertisement for the show. When photographing it is ok to remind the actors that you are actually trying to capture their characters, not them. Additionally, there is too much going on. The writing is not placed strategically on the poster so it makes it appear cluttered.

My redesign:

So, first off if I were designing the poster from scratch, I would have taken a completely different approach (because I think this design is a little overdone), but assuming that the original poster had some elements specifically requested by the director, I tried to simply update the existing version as opposed to change it all together.

First off, I chose to focus the poster on a single actress to both simplify the poster and make it more impactful.

I do like the impact that the red-on-black color scheme made in the original poster, so I exaggerated that effect by adding a colorcast to the whole poster.

Because the name of the show is the most important part of a poster, I decided to give it more punch by turning it into its own graphic element. I chose the dagger because of its significance to the plot and as a symbol in the show.

This week we are taking a look at a collaborative piece. This is...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:40:08 -0500

This week we are taking a look at a collaborative piece.

This is an advertisement for the 14th Grade Players production of Charley’s Aunt from last year. The show, which takes place at Oxford University at the turn of the century, centers around three college students- two of which are trying to get some time alone with their girlfriends. Back in the day this was quite a feat, as chaperones had to be present in order to keep up appearances. Unfortunately, the main characters lack a chaperone for the girls upcoming visit. To solve this problem, they trick another student into dressing like a woman and posing as the chaperone for the evening: Charley’s aunt. The rest of the show is a blur of romance and drama as the men try to woo their respective females while keeping the real identity of “Charley’s Aunt” a secret.

The posters artwork was done by former GW student Duncan Marchbank and I added the computer-generated graphic portion myself. This was my first collaborative piece, and I would give the situation mixed reviews.

Collaboration comes with its own set of challenges, the toughest of which to tackle- by far- was communication. Getting the ideas of three people (The director, the artist, and myself) into one poster is a nearly impossible feat- which literally took weeks to handle. Originally, the director wanted Duncan to produce the complete version of the poster, and my job was going to be limited to printing. However, when I received the PDF of the artwork, it lacked many crucial elements of an advertisement (such as dates, times, and locations for the show). My challenge became turning this piece of artwork into a useable show poster, without taking away from the original artists design or the directors vision.

Because the show was set in the early 1900’s, I found some examples of posters from the era and tried to mimic the common style elements from them (lettering font, placement, layout etc) I found that many posters from the period featured bland backgrounds with bold graphics / lettering and a few repeated colors. It made sense for the collaborative poster to feature these things as well. Because Duncan’s picture utilized bold colors, It automatically became a foreground element. I then used the other posters as a guide in order to find a visually appealing way to place the lettering around the poster. I selected the colors right from the artwork in order to stay true to the era and keep the piece cohesive.

I believe the poster overall was effective. Much feedback I received after the poster went up indicated that people got the vintage feel I was going for, and the bold colors made it hard to miss. If I had the poster to do over again I would have removed the green block at the very bottom and instead write the information directly onto the background in dark green, centered on a level plane. I think the green block draws the eyes away from more important elements, and onto information that is secondary.

I am very happy with the way the background almost gives the impression that the foreground elements are being glued to a wall (with the white streaks over the beige background). This was a happy mistake, as my goal in adding the white was just to break up the block of solid beige, but I found the effect to be quite pleasant.

Overall, my first experience in collaboration left me willing to try it again! I think that by combining our strengths as artists, Duncan and I were able to create a poster that was far stronger than either of us could have produced on our own.

I would argue that this is the best poster I have seen on campus...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:41:07 -0500

I would argue that this is the best poster I have seen on campus all semester long, and this includes the professional posters floating around that advertise GW events (Sorry GW….Sans Serif isn’t doin it for me….) .

The thing that makes this poster so great is how shocking it is. Even without bright colors or big lettering, something about this poster makes you stop and go “woa”. But the most beautiful part of this work of art is that the play Wit evokes the same intense feelings that the poster hints at. I don’t know when the last time I saw a poster and event that were so well-synchronized.

For those of you who don’t know, Wit follows cancer patient Vivian Bearing through her battle with the disease. Normally plays that handle serious and delicate topics are difficult to advertise for, because none of the normal attention-grabbing tactics apply. Bright colors would seem sickly here, bold lettering too aggressive. The designer of this poster seemed to understand that. Instead of using large, obnoxious lettering she (I say she because I have an idea of who may have done this one, but to be honest I am unsure) let the photo do the talking- and it speaks volumes.

The medical instruments in the middle of the page make a very strong statement. And the eggshell-color contrasting with the blueish white background is very uncomfortable. The two colors are similar enough that the eye wants to see them as the same, but different enough that it cannot. This dissonance creates a discomfort in the audience, that is only magnified by the objects themselves (medical instruments tend to make people uncomfortable). In this poster that is exactly the feeling they are going for. It is perfectly executed. Additionally, my eye was immediately drawn to the crispness of the sheets and all the different things that could mean.

All in all, this poster is crisp and effective. I can honestly say I would not edit a single pixel.

Oh, and if seeing this poster made you interested in auditioning for the show (you mean posters have a purpose OTHER than being beautiful? WHAT?) more information is available on the facebook event page .

The South Africa Project This week, instead of critiquing...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:01:00 -0500

The South Africa Project

This week, instead of critiquing somebody else’s work, I decided to take the plunge and instead present some of my own!
I recently made this poster (and by recently I mean within the last 24 hours) to advertise a GW Theater Department (TRDA) event to members of GW’s Focus on the Fall Abroad Community (FOFAC).

In my opinion, the South Africa Project is one of the coolest events that TRDA produces. Last summer, two GW seniors were given the opportunity to travel to South Africa in order to share their craft with kids in the Bokamoso Youth Center in Wintervelt. Now, those same kids are in DC to share their art with the GW community! For more information/tickets/etc check out TRDA’s explanation of the event.

But, enough about that (because, as excited as I am about the event, this IS first and foremost a design blog) and onto the poster its self.

This poster diverges from my usual style. My posters tend to be stricter, with clear spaces for wording, defined edges, clean lines, etc. I think this exploration into a freer form was only semi-successful. The poster is indeed striking, but it feels a bit cluttered to me.

I do, however, really like the feeling that this poster evokes. The dancing figures were perhaps the most fun part of the whole thing. I had a bunch of pictures I took with my friends over the summer of us dancing and jumping around. To achieve the silhouettes, I simply cut the figures from their backgrounds using Photoshop, then brought the brightness way down and the contrast way up, until you could no longer see anything but the silhouette. It’s a pretty simple way to achieve the desired effect, and can be used to silhouette any image at all.

I created the image of Africa in the background using the same technique, but I colored the background white and left the actual outline of the continent as negative space, then lowered the opacity of the whole image so the tye-dye background of the poster would show through.

Other than those elements, the rest of the poster is pretty simple text.

Feel free to comment (with the new comment feature *hint hint wink wink*) on what you think I could have done better with this poster, I love to hear everybody’s input! If you would like to see the poster printed, they will be all over the Amsterdam dorm this week!

Since last weeks post was focused on making a bad poster better,...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:06:00 -0500

Since last weeks post was focused on making a bad poster better, I thought that this week I would feature a poster that I found to be very effective overall.

I found this beauty of a poster floating around Rome Philips yesterday, and it immediately caught my attention.

There are so many things this poster is doing right. First of all, the design is attention-grabbing without being too much. I love how the designer picked one theme and stuck to it. The graphic really helps the audience get a sense of what this poster will be about before we have to read a single word.

The use of space in this poster is superb. The way the designer has grouped information around in the poster makes it easy to read. The audience gets all the important points and the poster does not appear too wordy (there is nothing worse than a wordy poster). The creative spacing of things really adds to the posters visual appeal.

The poster is not perfect, however. There are a few weaknesses to point out. First off, No wording on the poster should ever be larger than the name of the event. You really want that to be large enough to draw attention from the graphic. A little competition never hurt a good poster. Ideally, “Elect Her” should take up that whole blue bar (to the right of the graphic that is) and the date can move to the gray bar with the time, like the second picture above.

Secondly, I wouldn’t have set apart “breakfast and lunch provided” in a white box like they did, it doesn’t need THAT much attention, and the way they have done it is inelegant. The poster would have been more visually appealing if they had left that piece formatted just like “Marvin Center 307” and “The George Washington University” have been.

Last but not least, the link doesn’t work! I tried typing that in my computer numerous times, only to get an “error” page after every try! Some quick googling solved the problem (working link for all who want it: https://docs.google.com/a/gwmail.gwu.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGhDOW9JdHFEa1M4UXhVTUpBbk8zTFE6MQ#gid=0 ) But that was a very frustrating predicament to be in, as the poster gives no other clues as to how one could get information. Making a facebook page for the event, and adding a “Check us out on Facebook!” tag would have been an easy way to solve this problem.

UPDATE! UPDATE! It is my great pride and pleasure to announce...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:31:13 -0500

UPDATE! UPDATE!

It is my great pride and pleasure to announce the addition of an “About me” page to this blog!

Feel free to click the link at the top of the page (conveniently labeled “About me”) to check it out!

(Or, you could just enjoy the preview provided to you by this blog post)

Have a great day!

This is the original poster designed for Forbidden Planet...

girlinthefootiepajamas — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:32:42 -0500

This is the original poster designed for Forbidden Planet Production’s (a Student Theater Company at George Washington University) rendition of Next to Normal.

There are definitely things to like about this poster. First of all, Theater buffs will recognize the logo from the broadway production of the show, and this could help pique their interest. Furthermore, I really like that the designer included pictures of the cast on the poster. On a college campus, this is a very effective means of advertising because classmates, colleagues, and friends of cast members who may not know about the show may be interested when they see a familiar face on the poster. Additionally, using a bright color like purple is a very good way to grab attention in a sea of black and white ads.

However, I think the poster is lacking in terms of use of space and visual appeal. Quite frankly, aside from the color, it is not a very interesting poster to look at. The designer did not truly take advantage of the space he or she had on this poster. It is a bit blocky, and nothing about it- other than the color- really draws my attention. Additionally, Just from looking at this poster I would have no idea what the show was about. That is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to show advertisements. A poster should at least hint at the plot, or at least a major theme, of the show.

This is the direction I would have gone in, had I been the designer of this poster. It includes all the admirable elements of the original (Except the original logo- I took an artistic liberty there) but I have moved the information around on the page to make the poster more visually interesting. My placement of characters on the poster indicates what kind of role they play. I have chosen to center the two main characters in the poster, in order to reveal their dominance in the plot. The character in the center front row is Diana Goodman. The show focuses on her struggle with mental disorder after the loss of her son Gabe (the ghostly figure behind her). A person who has not seen the play could sense a physical division between the three characters shown in color, and the other figures in the poster, which may give them clues as to what the show will be about. the figures to Diana’s right and left are her husband and daughter. They too feel Gabe’s presence in their day to day life. This is why he looms above them. I have place two characters from outside the family fuzzy in the background of the poster. This is to indicate that, even though they are real people in the Goodman’s lives, their presence is often overshadowed by the metaphorical presence of Gabe.