My Poster Designs
Notes from lecture;
- A poster is a sales tool to sell your film
- It must communicate a large amount of information in one frame (instant impact)
- Hierarchy is very important, where do audiences’ eyes go first?
- Use a grid to begin
- If the project is 3D, use 3D elements
- Typeface legibility is a priority and then to convey emotion
In this design, I wanted to create a distance shot of my saloon to represent the wilderness the Wild West can be, so there are layers of ground before the audience. The Saloon itself will be the older style saloon with neon elements for the renovation. I like the cactus and streetlights to contrast each other but I am unsure how to develop this poster further, it doesn’t feel like the correct vibe, is too cartoonish, and might not explain the narrative fully.
This design is based on Red Dead Redemption 2’s poster and ended up being one of my favorites. The aim is to have a rendered screenshot of my new saloon in the background while layering a silhouette on top to represent the old environment. With the title ‘The New West’ I believe it lets the audience know the town has been redeveloped. For these posters I will need to concentrate more on title position and what image to draw around as there needs to be a balance of light and imagery without too much of the rendered image.
The aim of design 4 was to show a passage of time from the original town to the redevelopment, with the powerlines showing the connection. It also shows wilderness and a sunset, seen in the example posters with similar themes. There is also room and placement for the titles. I like the western side but feel the city side needs more work and smoother representation, the imagery is not sitting right at the moment.
One of the most identifiable things of the old west apart from cowboy hats, boots and guns are saloon doors, which I have included in my environment and they are rarely seen elsewhere. So the poster was drawn to show these doors but to represent the newer saloon I created elements seen such as neon signs. I feel like the concept of this poster is let down by my lack of sketching ability. The galaxy lights behind the door are meant to show a bright neon bar or club. This poster concept might work as a rendered shot but looks out of place at the moment.
Design 6 is my favorite poster. I designed it like the ‘Jeffrey’ example I found and it is meant to represent a Western ‘Wanted’ poster. By adding splashes to the page and making the border imperfect, it gives the impression it has been hanging up outside in all weather. The font works well, which is copied from the Red Dead 2 posters and is called Chinese Rocks, and the title is clear. It also works that the poster is 2D but I can have a 3D picture of my new environment. Need to work on narrative and period, the old saloon is from the 1800s but the redeveloped saloon is in 2022, does the fact this is the old-style poster work?
Based on the Red Dead 2 and Bar poster. Sunset is very western but is quite a harsh dark background. I liked the concept but don’t feel like ti t fits the narrative well or conveys the project. Maybe could work as actual rendered images but black drawings are too plain and the whole poster feels like it’s missing something.
Peer Feedback
Rachel Martin –
Poster 2 – I’d say maybe in the first could try centre the word ‘new’ within the cactus? Having New sitting on the more modern bit?
Hannah Gordon-
“I pretty much agree with Rachel and what she’s saying. There’s this website I found that’s great for different fonts and stuff which you could look at cause I’m sure they have some in the style you’re going for! Them 2 (posters 2 and 6) posters are my favourite also the cactus gets both sides across in a more subtle way which I really like”
Emma Shanks –
Aodhan’s Feedback
Out of the posters I think draft 6 is the strongest, I think you need to include some more elments of the modern side of the bar. Maybe having the nighclub sign neon against the sepia? Are you intending to have the posters as 2D or are they going to be renders of your environment? I like the smoking gun vectors on your poster, might be nice to include them on the business card and tie it all together nicer. You could even have the smoke coming out as neon
Review
I completely agree with everyones feedback and believe I should carry on with posters 2 and 6. I could possibly make them a series and somehow link them together. I like aodhans Idea of introducing some neon elements to the wanted poster but I will need to do this in a subtle way that won’t distract from the rest of the poster. Emma also liked poster 4 which was one of my favourites and I will try her suggestion as I felt there was potential in the poster but I just hit a block on how to develop it further. Aodhan raised great questions and points on my feedback which I intend to make into more drafts.