What is a Poster

WHAT IS A POSTER? By definition a poster is:

My personal definition is that poster is an image usually larger than A4 containing information about an event or product or contains resemblance of such thing. Posters are usually for promotional purposes but are also used for propaganda, to spread news, protest and more.

A

B

C

Above you can see 4 examples of posters.

Example A: “Protest art is the creative works produced by activists and social movements. It is a traditional means of communication, utilized by a cross-section of collectives and the state to inform and persuade citizens.[1] Protest art helps arouse base emotions in their audiences, and in return may increase the climate of tension and create new opportunities to dissent.”

The example is taken from ‘2008 California Proposition 8’ It is a poster used to aid the protest to allow same-sex marriage which proposition 8 went against.

The poster depicts a raised hand making a fist, behind are sunrays to further promote the idea that the fist is raised in the air. The use of this image is a successful depiction of protest because when you see a person with his fist raised in the air you know that this body language means objection and standing your ground.

The style of this poster also works because it’s almost like a stencil that you use when making graffiti which is illegal. Therefore, you can tell that the poster is to fight against what is legal and change it.

The font used in this poster is bold and the main message is done in larger font size and contrasts well with the background unlike the ‘DEFEND EQUALITY’ text which is just as important but serves more like a slogan for what is being protested, therefore it is done in red which doesn’t contrast as well but the white outline allows it to pop more and be more readable.

Example B: “The Barack Obama “Hope” poster is an image of Barack Obama designed by artist Shepard Fairey, which was widely described as iconic and came to represent his 2008 presidential campaign.

[1][2] It consists of a stylized stencil portrait of Obama in solid red, beige and (light and dark) blue, with the word “progress”, “hope” or “change” below (and other words in some versions).”

In this poster, you may observe that the colours used are the same colours on the American flag which suits the goal of this poster. The poster also contains a strong message “HOPE”, done in all capitals and bold font. The poster is straight to the point as it shows the image of a candidate together with the word hope it tells you to vote for this person because he is the hope for the country.

Example C: “A promotional poster is defined as a type of poster created and designed in various colours, materials, mechanisms, shapes, sizes, and styles used by a business, company or organization to promote their goods, products, or services.”

This is your regular poster promoting a product, in this case, its Pepsi.

The beverage above average is a successful poster because it shows the main product in the middle and its in the perfect lighting and with water droplets all over it to imply that the drink is cold, this stimulates your brain and subconsciously makes you thirsty.

The poster doesn’t necessarily need to make sense, in this case, you can see that the background contains hot air ballons plains and at the bottom of the poster you can see a construction truck. At the first glance, you don’t even notice those objects because your attention is caught by the main object (PEPSI). But if you think about it the background suggests that the drink can accompany you wherever you are. The grass on which the Pepsi sits makes you think of summer which is associated with positivity. Therefore the whole poster works to subconsciously make you associate the product with positive things.

D

Example D: This is an interactive poster. It is what the name suggests, a poster with which a person can interact, there are multiple different examples of interactive posters, printed on bubble wrap, once that use QR codes to reveal something and more.

The example I have provided is a poster of an overweight girl and a text acts as her own words. At the first glance, you see a happy girl saying that her ‘‘mom calls her beautiful in front of everyone’’.

However, once you scan the QR code an image popup on your phone with a different version of the same poster this one with the girl all scribbled out with red pen making her look demonic and just looks as if someone scribbled that in anger. The text also has changed and now says “MOM CALLS ME FAT. SAYS I’M UGLY. WHY CAN’T YOU BE BEAUTIFULL...”

This is a very successful poster because it depicts difficulties a kid can go through that you don’t see at first glance. But when you look closer the truth is revealed and what you thought was nice does not seem so nice anymore.

It makes you feel more empathy than if you had otherways just seen the second picture straight away because its more saddening if the sorrow is hidden, it shows vulnerability and hopelessness

E

Example E: Example E is a poster that uses 3 dimentional design (it’s actually a billboard but I was unable to find a poster to use as an example, however, same principles apply) This is a very successful type of poster because it’s not very common and if well designed can have a great impact and easily catch the attention of others. The billboard image I have provided is a great example of using 3-dimensional objects to create a promotional campaign. It promotes the ‘Autoliv’ business which is “the world’s largest automotive safety supplier, with sales to all major car manufacturers in the world.”. I think that their design works because it succeeds at what they are trying to achieve, it catches the drivers attention as he drives through and sees a giant teddy bear. Seat belts around the teddy bear and the ‘Save Lives’ text create the impression that it’s about safety and on top of it the teddy bear also makes us feel about children as it is an iconic children’s toy and therefore some people may feel like they want their car to be safer for their children’s sake.

Other examples of 3-Dimentional posters may contain a bubble sticking out of the paper, a product that sticks out of the paper some of which are interactable.