Overview

The Poster Project is in two parts: a quick research project, then the full design of a printed poster.

Part 1, the Oral Presentation

Part 2 Design Heros Poster

Part I, Oral Report  

a) From the list of designers whose name you chose, collect 20 images of their work and RESEARCH their careers. You can use the Internet, but NOT Wikipedia. Remember to note all sources of both images and text. You can add videos.

b) DESIGN YOUR PRESENTATION, using the ONLY the GRID and FONTS I provide. You can use Google Slides, Powerpoint, Keynote, ISSUU or a PDF booklet or presentation. Make a contact sheet of the images you find.

c) Write notes about the CAREER of your chosen designer–where they worked, their most important pieces, their contribution to the design field overall.

d) From this information, prepare a FIVE-MINUTE Oral Presentation with the images you made on the PDF.

Part II, The Poster

The Design Heroes Poster project will be a tribute poster to the designer whom you researched for your presentation. NO OTHER DESIGNER.

Here are the specifications:

For the print poster

11 x 17 inches, vertical or horizontal; for print. .25 border all around. Note, that one of the requirements will be to print the poster. So, if you’re planning to print it at home, you will have to adjust the size–and therefore the InD files to the new size.

For the digital poster

For iPhone X — 1125 x 2436 px. Use this specification in InD.

For both posters:

Two colors with black as one of them. The paper/background is white. Keep this in mind as you design with tints–tints of the same color can give awesome effects. We’ll go over this at length.

Text: Required:

 1) the name of the designer, spelled properly.

 2) ONE image of the designer’s work as a signature.

3) Text about the venue or sponsor (see below)

Your poster could take a few forms: 

For example:

a) Design a poster advertising an exhibition or retrospective of their work in a gallery or museum. If that’s the case, you must include the venue and its address, the dates and other pertinent information.

For example: The Design Sketches and Development of the NYC Subway Poster by Massimo Vignelli is on view at The Municipal Art Society of New York   457 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 from May 24 – June 30 (Date can be fake or copied from another event in the past)

Where you can find this information: The archives of MoMA, the Cooper Hewitt or perhaps from the research you did for your oral presentation.

b) Design a tribute poster:

Include an applicable “sponsor” of your project

For example: Published by the Transit Museum Boehrum Place, Brooklyn New York © 2017.

YOU’VE ALREADY DONE THE RESEARCH ON YOUR DESIGN HERO, SO YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE A SIGNATURE WORK TO INCLUDE; YOU’RE ALSO AWARE OF THEIR TREATMENT OF FONTS, LAYOUT OR DESIGN. Use this to your advantage.

If your poster is linked to an event, include the date and place of the even must be included.

Very Important:

No illustrations or photographs of the designer. No photographs of their work or their portrait. Only one image of a graphic of their work (for example: a type face they’ve designed, or a logo they created)

Follow these steps:

Do them in this order and you’ll be fine.

1) Draw a grid

2) Decide on the fonts, and download them. Get the bold and italics; print the full alphabet in a few sizes: 12, 16, 24, 36 60 point. Decide what will be H1, H2, H3 and caption sizes.

3) YOU’VE ALREADY researched content—find and organize the text of what you want to say and, if you use one, an image.

4) Only one color and black. Choose a color you “like” with the understanding that it will change as you create tints of it with tints of black. This will be a quick scaffolding project.

4) Make a style book with color chart, transparencies, add fonts with their hierarchies.

Over the next sessions we will work on each of these components.

Learning Outcomes

  • Working with the grid.
  • Targeted research about a graphic designer’s life, work and times
  • Informative screen presentation with well-organized visual elements
  • Clear, concise and effective oral presentations
  • Use of color, tints and effective typography
  • Organizational layout skills

Instructions

  1. Make a grid, regardless of which presentation application you intend to use. Import it to the application and line up your images and caption text.
  2. Keep the text to a minimum, since, in presenting it, you will be delivering the information verbally.

Due Date(s)

  • EVERYONE presents the oral presentation a week after assignment.
  • Other deadlines are given as the project develops. Finish the work and send it to print so you can see the progress and modify it before printing the final poster in color.

Resources