Poster

in-class assignment: poster about myself using photoshop

I tried to echo the idea and imagery of the stack of books, using the eyedropper tool to use colors found in the books to keep it uniform and consistent. I built up with gradual facts about myself and used the same font family and just varied the styles throughout. I used a drop shadow for all the type and varied the colors of that as well. Overall I just wanted to keep it simplistic but give the overall feel and idea of a student and of a organized but not totally structured life.

I used priority by the hierarchy of text sizes I implemented- the most important information is in bigger fonts and bolder, such as my name and my major. I used connection by keeping the color scheme very simplistic and all drawn straight from the image itself so everything looks like one cohesive image and is very connected and not random at all. The alignment is purposely skewed to echo the idea of the stack of books, but each line of text still touches the one below it to keep the connection strong between them, although the alignment is more intentionally randomized.

CRAP Principles- Before and After

BEFORE:

assignment one:

AFTER:

assignment one:

contrast- I used contrast primarily in the grouping of the rectangles in the weights of the strokes to distinguish between the different shapes.

repetition- All groupings involve repetition as there are multiples of each shape in each groupings, four of each. The color in each grouping is also repeated- the same shade of blue for all ovals, the same shade of red for all rectangles, and various shades of orange for the moon shapes from darkest to light as the shapes decrease in size.

alignment- I aligned the ovals with a center alignment vertically. The rectangles had a more random alignment, but was still spaced intentionally with the same amount of overlap and white space between the borders of the various shapes. The moon shapes are aligned with the same amount of white space between each arc, with them creating a sort of echo look in the way they radiate outward from the largest, but all come to the same sort of invisible line to the right.

proximity- I kept all the similar shapes in close proximity with each other, even to the point of overlapping them. The two smallest ovals are touching the largest, and the medium size is inside of the largest to keep them proximate. The rectangles are all overlapping as well, keeping them as one unit. The moon shapes are radiating out from largest to smallest and are very close together as well.

BEFORE:

assignment two:

AFTER:

assignment two:

contrast- I used contrast between the pale green background and the black type, as well as in the various font styles used to bring the eye to the various aspects of the poster.

repetition- The same font type is repeated throughout this poster. The idea of green is repeated both in color choice and in the type.

alignment- The type is either right or left aligned based on what side of the poster it is on.

proximity- The main headline and the subhead with more information is grouped together in the top right, the information about date and location is grouped together on the left side, and the "logo" and slogan are grouped together as well.

Arbitrary Graphic- Research Design

I chose a color scheme of simple colors, using various shades of the colors for distinction. The timeline section of this design, with the dates, is at the top, as it is the most important element and I wanted to show its priority. I wanted to keep the borders and lines clear and easily distinguished, so I made them thicker and more bold. I didn't want the type to be unreadable, so I made the fils of all the boxes the lightest shade of the color, so that way the connections between the lines and the boxes would be clear but it would still be readable and not distracting. I made the two sections that were the same action (administering an online survey) the same color to show that they were the same action, repeated, and to give a strong connection between them. I kept the boxes stating who was involved in each particular activity in the same color of green so that it would be consistent and the viewer would know where to look for that information on the various dates. The information that mainly involved the research (such as the dates, and the components that would be done apart from the students and teachers) are in grayscale to make another distinction between types of information. I think this color scheme could be applicable to any potential age group or audience and isn't overly childish or only interesting to certain audience groups or ages.

I think my target audience would be those interested in this research, potentially to approve the plan of the researcher that is being presented, or to be involved in the research to some extent, or to perhaps just have a sense of what a timeline for research would look like. Regardless, I think this design is clear and simple and could be easily altered for different needs of the client or audience if need be.

By creating a timeline, I think the information is organized in a way that makes sense to us chronologically and in terms of what needs to be done when, as that is the most important thing in research. Keeping to a schedule is important, and I think this makes that easy to do. The dates stand out and are easily seen, and the information that goes with each date is beneath it, which I think is a logical flow to the graphic overall. I think having the colors united with the lines to the dates from the information helps that overall flow make easy sense as well, as the viewer just has to look at everything in the same color family to make the connections and understand what is going on.