Process and Production Nick - Lesson 2

Within this second process and production lesson with Nick, we were given the task of creating self publishing Posters. Before starting the project we were shown several examples of posters that we could take inspiration from when creating our own designs. We firstly started out by talking about what a poster is? 

What is a Poster?

A poster is a type and piece of designed printed paper that is attached to a wall or vertical surface. Posters are mainly designed to be eye-catching and informative so that the message on the design stands out to the target audience that is being displayed. Posters can be use for many purposes, such as:

• Advertisements like Music and Film Events, New Products
• Propagandists 
• Protestors and other groups that try to communicate a message.

Poster designs are created using both graphic and textual elements to display a design or a message to the target audience. I found that this point was very interesting as some posters are use for reproductions of artwork like famous works, and are generally low cost compared to the original artwork. We were told that for our task we should keep it simple but creative and we should always take this into consideration for our projects that we have also been given.  

We then moved on to talk about the artist known as Anthony Burrill. Where we were shown some examples of the work that he has produced for some poster designs. I found that these poster designs that we were shown were very interesting and creative because they were very bold and the font style and colour scheme that was used for the posters allowed them to stand out and communicate the message across to the target audience that the poster design was displaying. The part that we needed to think about the most in this process and production lesson is the Tone of Voice and the Visual Impact of the poster designs that I was going to create. The content that we were given for our task were song lyrics from five different songs. The lyrics we were given were:

• Lets go dip it low then you bring it up slow
• What you gone do when I appear?
• Started from the bottom now we're here
• I'm missing more than just your body
• Haven't had a dream in a long time

Our task was to create as many as we could with our time period and develop the rest at home or in our spare time. I managed to create three of the five, however I am going to complete this in my spare time at home to finish the other two designs. Another pointer that we were given in our task was to use only three specific font styles that we were given to use, One simple, One fancy, One bold but all three fonts stood out.  

For my first poster design I decided to use the Serif font style because I like that style of the font was very bold, stood out and was very easy to read by the target audience that I was aiming these posters too. The lyric that decided to start out with first was 'Lets go dip it low then you bring it up slow'. Once I had created this poster design I wasn't too sure about the layout that I used for the design because I felt that it was slightly boring and simple, however I thought that it was easier to read and see, so it wouldn't cause any problems. After I had completed the design I then photo-copied it to create a copy to see how it would look with a different appearance, overall I felt that the design worked and stood out.

For my second poster design I decided to again use the Serif font style that was slightly different to the last, but I felt that the style of the font was very simple but easy to see and read. I think that the font style was also very bold and stood out well, as I think it is important to choose a font style that can easily display your message across to the target audience that the design is advertising to. The lyric that I focused on next was 'Havent had a dream in a long time' for this lyric I decided to be a little more creative and place the first three words and 5th, 6th and 7th words wonky and different to the 4th and last word as I wanted to display the 4th and last words straight because I felt that these words were the most important within the lyric that I had chosen. Overall I felt that this design worked, however if I had more time I would have tried to be a little more adventurous and look at the layout of the lyrics again. I then photo-copied the poster design to get the final effect. 

For my final poster design, I used the lyric 'What you gone do when I appear'. For this design I decided to use the Sans Serif font style because I thought that the style of the font matched the lyric perfectly. It wasn't too bold but still stood out to me and would be easy to see and read and wouldn't cause any visual problems to the target audience that you are aiming at. For the first six words, I again like the last made them look wonky and wobbly to create an effective piece. Although with the last word which was Appear I decided to use all capital letters because I thought that this word was the most important design of them all. I wanted this word to stand out and be more bolder than the other lyrics within the sentence. This poster design was one of my favourite designs that I created within the process and production lesson, after I had done this I again photo-copied the design to how the appearance would change if copied.

Overall I found that this process and production lesson with Nick was very interesting, as I was allowed to be very experimental with the design that I was creating. To expand and take this task further I might look at the other lyrics and new lyrics that I could use to create other poster designs.