Chapter 6. Poster Design

Poster design is a fundamental challenge for any graphic designer. A simple composition in two-dimensional space, a poster is put to a thousand uses, ranging from advertising and event promotion, to public service announcements.

The designer's challenge is to use the medium to engage, inform, and finally motivate passersby. Walk down a city street, hop on the subway, or visit a museum, and you'll see posters everywhere. The best pull us in, present their message with alacrity, and leave us thinking about them afterward.

In this chapter, we'll explore some principles of composition that can be helpful in developing effective poster designs. You'll learn approaches to achieving unity, balance, and rhythm in your posters to make them stand out on the street.

COURSE DEVELOPER: PIPER NILSSON

This chapter is based on a lesson developed by Piper Nilsson, a New York-based graphic designer and information architect.

Figure 6.1. Posters like this one by designer Gabriela Monroy use balance, repetition, and other intriguing compositional techniques to communicate effectively and make a lasting impression.

In this chapter you will:

• Learn about different methods used in poster design to deliver effective messages.

• Explore methods of creating unity in the design of a poster: proximity, repetition, continuation, and underlying color.

• Learn how and why to create symmetrical and asymmetrical compositions.

• Learn how different methods of balancing a composition influence its effect.

• Learn about three types of rhythmic approaches to composition.

• Learn about proportions found in art, nature, and design.

• Explore some applications of typographical rules in poster design.

• Design a poster for a music festival considering compositional techniques, imagery, typography, and the display environment.