Exhibition Poster

Exhibition Poster

"As designers it is your job to help the reader read the words by positioning text and images in such a way as to be appropriate for the content but also navigable by the human eye. This is true for any layout whether it’s for a glossy fashion spread, reportage or an instruction booklet." 

Format 

Type

Within the exhibition poster bolder typefaces are used to highlight key pieces of information. However, by also using lighter and thinner typefaces, other elements of the poster such as imagery help contribute to push other elements of the design into the spotlight too.  

Courier New typeface was used for the exhibition poster; this is a monospaced slab serif typeface designed to resemble the output from a strike-on typewriter. The design of the poster is delicate and minimal and with a font that suggests the use of a traditional type-writer as well as also having a modern and industrial personality, it allows the image to stand out as well as bringing the different components of the poster together. This typeface also works well alongside the V&A logotype.

Another used typeface in the poster is the V&A logotype that was simply copied and positioned onto the poster. The colour was altered to be a more faded black to fit the rest of the tone of the poster. A Japanese style font was also used to highlight the Japanese identity of the exhibition

I made a previous poster before the one for the V&A. The previous design was for an exhibition at the Tate modern rather than the V&A. The Tate has its  own font and therefore for the design to appear as being a part of the Tate this font had to be downloaded and used in the poster. 

Layout 

Through making design decisions based on organising information, each individual piece of design made in this module arranges and distributes text and image differently in order to effectively fit their different functions and personalities, as well as giving a pleasing visual.  

Through constructing the exhibition poster, experimentation of positioning and sizing each element of the design went about in order to find the layout that communicated the identity of the exhibition in the strongest and most effective way.

The composition of the exhibition poster used asymmetrical balance. The shape of the image is heavier on the top, by having a chunk of content on the bottom it balances out the weight of the page. 

Scale can be used to communicate hierarchy through its ability to draw attention towards and away certain elements. Having the image of the paper sculpture made bigger and bolder creates a focal point in the design, causing viewers eyes to be drawn to this element of the design first. This is important due to the poster not having a title and therefore the design requires a strong image to communicate the exhibition, and in order to achieve this size, colour and placement of the image all need to be considered. 

The large quantity of space that fills the poster, gives the poster clarity and helps balance out different parts of the composition, while also allowing the imagery to breathe. This design decision was made within the colour theory book; the right side of pages displaying colour pallets all had a strip of white space, which made observing the colours easy and prevented them being disrupted with other means beside it. Therefore, by strategically using white space within my designs, it prevented it having a busy and confusing tone and helped balanced it out.