Inspiration: Poster ideas

I get a lot of inspiration from looking at other peoples work. Mainly because it gives me a different way of thinking, and secondly, because it then triggers new ideas for my own work.


So I was browsing the web to see if I could get any inspiration on ways that I could display the content of my diary on a poster. I got a bit worried now because I don't want this to particularly be a typography project because it is not one of my strong points - so i need to remember that it is about the content and the layout. I really liked these ideas which I will try out with my own text:

I mainly like the abstract look of this poster, and that the letters are clear, but the content is not legible.

I like the idea of using text within an image. I think it is very effective, and gives the viewer an idea of what the content is possibly about.

Something like this really makes me want to design and draw. I like the idea of embossing words but am not sure if this would be legible if I were to scan it in, as this piece is obviously done on photoshop/illustrator.

I thought this was interesting because of the varying scale within one page. It definitely made me think of my diary due to the quantity of the text.

I also like the idea of being very minimal with the posters, just to highlight the core theme for that particular entry.

Not too sure about this one. Again, I like the fact that the text forms an image, but I think maybe there is too much text. I think I would use bigger type.

I like the simplicity of this. Simples.

The 3D effect is enticing, I was thinking of maybe using plastiscine to create an word through anagram. As I really want to incorporate mixd media into my FMP, I think this may be a good idea, with some illustration.

I like the layout of this, it makes it seem as though it is a poem, and thus, made me think of my diary.

Really do like the abstract style, and this piece is enticing. Makes you want to read it and figure it out, like a puzzle.

I also like the idea of layering. And I did some layered examples with my text. I now want to incorporate illustration too as I am not too keen on using just block text. I want my posters to be vibrant and eye catching.

I really love this. I like the fact that each letter has an opacity to it, therefore revealing text underneath. I may try this out with a short dada poem.

Another poster I think is amazing. By looking at it, I think it just draws the viewer in, and it is visually beautiful due to the way the letters/words have been placed on the page.

This is another simple poster. I really like this font, and the slight hints of colour.

Not too keen on this, but I thought it was interesting as it wasn't entirely legible. And the way the letters have been placed to form an image almost.

Another of my favourite styles. I like the busyness and messy aspect of it, though it also contrasts as it has a clean style to it. It just looks raw, and I really like the use of black on a bright colour.

This made me think about using a whole diary entry, and then placing the main word from it larger than the rest. Will try this out.

I like everything about this. The colours, the size of the type, the fact that the main content is at the bottom part of the page, and the composition.

This reminded me of my recent experimentation. Picking out words from a piece of text and highlighting them. Though mine formed a new sentence, I may try out just pin pointing a word I have used a lot.

I liked the text here because when you read it out, it sounds like dada poetry. 

I really like this. It looks like a page in a magazine. I would love to try something like this. And I like that it is using only 2 colours, but it is so effective.

This intrigued me because the artist has used the shape of a letter to create a pattern over the poster. Will definitely be giving this style a try.

This I liked because of the scrunched up paper markings, and that the type looks 3D.  

Another poster using opacity in its letters.

I really like this. I like that some of the letters are upside down, and I like the lines coming down from it. Looks like the letters are bleeding/dripping - This idea could be used in my piece to form sentences from my entry... dada or not? Not sure yet.

I really like the simplicity of this one, and the way it is layed out on the page. The blurred red A is also quite intriguing because it make you wonder if it is meant to be a part of the black text. 

So from looking at all these ideas and styles, I will begin to experiment with different ideas for the posters, and see what works and what doesn't. Still not too sure whether I should use individual words as anagrams, or more of the text on dada... need to test this out to see what looks best. Probably do a mixture of the two, as I don't want them all to look too alike.

Experimenting

After the meeting, I wrote down a list of initial ideas to test out. These included;

• Sentence from entry in different colour/type/size
• Pick out most relevant word
• Pick out most relevant word and rearrange (anagram)
• Layer a word from different materials - opacity?
• Cut out and stencil over dada entry
• Cut out from entry page
• Foam letters - spin
• Foam letters - drag (horizontal & vertical)
• Paint (backwards) and place paper over top

These were the outcomes...

The above two were just simple ideas to pick out words from the dada poetry to form an alternate sentence. I like this idea. Like 2 in 1.

This idea was to pick out a word from one of the diary entries that defined the whole piece, and using it as an anagram to form new words. This is quite a good idea too, and keeps the whole theme secretive.

This was trying out layering. I cut out a different word in some cardboard, and place it over the dada poem. This look is interesting because it only lets you see certain areas, and mixes up the words.

Here I tested out cutting out a word from the poem, and then I thought I would see if I could make a new poem from the visible words. It wasn't a success, or legible really. So I decided to join up the words to make new ones so it then became legible and was  quite interesting really. Completely abstract but different:

Bod yisted hentreme her cho gibarnd facect shaiett,

Stvidly h dft poke remem eside fling very treir staw I tho hewain.

So yes, not exactly anything brilliant, but it was just an experiment.

This was experimenting with reproduction. I painted some cardboard letters, and placed a piece of paper over the top. I like this piece above because it was what was left when I pulled the slightly stuck letters off. Below is the result of the printed piece. I like the roughness of it and the fact that it is readable but not as well. 

This was done on Photoshop, layering 3 images together and using opacity to let the background image come through. Quite effective I thought.

Above I just cut out letters from the diary entry, not too keen on this look.

Here I was trying out using rubber stamps on top of the poem. I like the idea of using the whole poem in the background because I still want it to be about the diary. It is the essence of the project after all.

I do like the way the experimentation went, but it is still about testing out the water and seeing what I can make from it. I have been researching poster ideas and found some very nice work. So my next step is to experiment with poster styles.

Meeting 5: 19/02/2010

Had quite a productive meeting today. I spoke about turning my diary entries into dada poetry as I still want to keep this period of my life secretive. I got some positive views and some interesting feedback. I was told that I should maybe think opposite to a diary because it might be more interesting to do things that don't associate with diaries. Especially as I am using dada poetry, something which you wouldn't necessarily see in one. So I was told to maybe do a series of posters... 12, one for each year - like a diary format. I quite like this idea, because it refers back to my original intention:


A conventional diary, with an unconventional design.


I was also told to look at Tom Phillips - The Humument - as this is a sort of similar idea to mine. There were a few designs I liked of his:

These above images  really inspired me to think differently about posters, and how I could adapt my diary entry. I especially like the way he highlights certain text in a bubble separate to the rest of the text, but I also like that he still keeps the remaining text on the page just less obvious that the pure white sections.

Style of Pages

I was browsing some diary pages people have posted online, and found a lot of interesting designs, and all for very different reasons;

I was wondering whether or not to make my diary look more vintage rather than contemporary, but I don't really want an old look to it. Especially if I am styling it so that it is me reminiscing. 

I don't want to do something like this as it looks too child-like, but I was drawn to the busyness and colour over the entire page.

Again, I like the busyness of the page, and the use of mixed media makes me want to use this medium even more. It just seems to give the pages more depth and stands out. 

These 2 above are from Frida Kahlo's diary. I'm not too keen on the style as there it is not very visual or creative. I want to try and steer clear from too much plain text. 

I love this type of illustration, this is what inspires me to draw. It's busy, it's messy, but in a good way. This is the sort of style I would like to adopt for the images I choose to illustrate. A main black tone with hints of other colours.

I like the use of her thoughts outside of the main text (above). 

I find this quite ugly to look at. Very plain and boring. 

I was instantly drawn to this image. It reminded me of dada poetry and made me think that I could do something like this with some of the imagery within my diary... for something that I don't want people to recognise and so on.

LOVE THIS! Makes me want to get out my acrylic paints. I like the use of various sized text, and it has made me think of alternate ways to display the dada poetry. I like that it is minimal text too, and that it surrounds the centre image. The black text on blue is captivating too for some reason, therefore the text could really be any size because it will be legible.

Linear drawings... always catch my eye. It is funny how much I love busy illustration AND simple linear work. I would like to use both these styles... or see if I can intwine linear and busyness by the use of colour perhaps?

I like this as a front cover idea. Or maybe page backgrounds perhaps?

Another style I like is incorporating photography with illustration. I think it's really effective and you can then alter real life images to create a different scenario or meaning. 

 This is quite nice for use with a vast amount of text. It doesn't make it look long, or boring to read.

The simplicity of this is what struck me. I wanted to incorporate a linear look to the diary, as this conveys secrecy in a different format - drawing - as opposed to dada poetry - text.