Design Analysis
As a part of the Comm Lab: Visual Language homework I am analyzing this poster that I found on Pinterest. The poster intrigued me because it not only shares a powerful message, but it also uses visuals cleverly to help share the message.
The grid system of this poster is fairly simple. The poster has central lines running from the top to the bottom, keeping all the content to the center. While there are multiple horizontal grid lines, they maintain the same width and alignment. This helps form a rectangular positive space at the center of the poster.
The poster does also express a level hierarchy at the first glance. The words ‘GULP’ and ‘DRIP’ hit the eye first due to their bold width and size. The viewer then refers to the visual, making sense of the words and associating them with the illustration. The illustration is the only element that is noticed due to its bright colors which stand out in the poster. At last, the viewer notices the line at the bottom, ‘Don’t Drink & Drive’, which due to its small font is read to conclude the entire composition of the poster.
With the help of What the Font?, I identified that the poster uses two separate san-serif typefaces:
PF Fusions Sans Pro by Parachute – ‘GULP’ & ‘DRIP’
Sequel Sans Body Roman – ‘Don’t Drink & Drive’
The type used for ‘GULP’ & ‘DRIP’ are evidently more bold to emphasize on a concise message with only two words. While ‘Don’t Drink & Drive’ is a supporting line which may not have needed a bold font, but a type that compliments the composition above.
The color system of this poster remains minimal with four major colors. While the poster’s realistic visual includes many more shades, I decided to pick up two of the more seen colors with the eyedropper tool. The illustration is the only element of the poster with bright colors, that make it stand out after the big black and bold words. Because all the elements of the poster sit on a relatively light gray tone, the choice of a black type color help them blend well in the composition.
