Monday 13th March: The Cube Microplex

For this project, I was required to design a poster for an event taking place at the Cube Microplex in April. This was a live brief, so the client will choose a few posters from this course and stick them around Bristol.  I had decided to choose the film event called, ‘1984’ because I felt a stronger connection with the film because it is emotional and I like the concept of society not progressing over time; it shows how the author feels about the second world war, and I admire how he has used history telling skills to illustrate a possible future that may occur unless changes were to be made.

After collecting primary research from the Cube Microplex, I concluded that my client had a retro style to it that was welcoming with a warm atmosphere, so I put research into artist that had a similar style. Sheppard Fairey is an American graphic designer that I had already used in my Graphic Design taster project called, ‘Just my type’; I thought his work was appropriate to use and I wanted to look further into his use of colour and how he communicates context through his work. I made use of his limited colour palette in order to create strong contrasts within the poster, which will make the pigments feel more vibrant next to the darker colours. I also decided to make use of his block colours in order to make the poster feel retro and it will interpret my client’s character.

After watching and listening to the original version of 1984, I made some notes on different aspects that stand out in order to reflect on what the film is about and to gain some visual ideas from my notes, which was a very effective method to use because I managed to gain many ideas for my poster in very short time, and it enabled me to become enticed into this project.

Additionally, I also started playing and manipulating my photographs on Photoshop in order to show the consumer different aspects of the cinema in a fun and expressive way; by showing the consumer different parts of the cinema, they feel more familiarised with the client, and it increases the connection and interaction between my client and the consumer.

After selecting several of my favourite concepts, I started researching layouts and found a graphic designer called Neville Brody, who is another artist that I have previously used for another project, ‘pen to paper’. I liked his work because of the way he uses his typography in order to create a dynamic layout, and I wanted to explore his use of geometric typography; the typography he uses is harsh and relates to the way ‘1984 ‘ discourages any interaction or emotion. I looked further into the history of typography in order to gain a further understanding of how they have changed and decide whether I would want my typography to be within the 20^th century in order to emphasis the character of the film and make the consumer feel as if they have transported in time. However, after much research, I have found that typography has been borrowed and reintroduced several times throughout the years, so it is difficult to decide which typography would have been appropriate for my poster. I looked at the Grunge typography, which is the most recent typeface, however, I was intrigued by it because it has a wide range of styles that have all been produced in the act of rebellion (dada movement), which is the same style that Brody uses. I decide to use the ‘Masterplan’ typeface because I liked the battered appearance, bringing out the context of war and rebellion. The typeface also no serif, making the text even in thickness and clearer for the viewer to read. Using my selected ideas, I used Photoshop to explore different layouts of the text and added my client’s logo in order to gain a better impression of what the poster was going to look like and decide whether the space was used efficiently with more than one object. This also helped me decide which ideas I should consider because I found that adding text to the imagery allows you to perceive whether the ideas are practical to use. I chose to layer my title vertically on the left side in order to make my poster more dynamic and to balance the text on the right side. Once I limited my ideas to four designs, I was able to focus on what typeface I would use to inform the viewer when the event would be taking place. Bank Gothic typography was used because of its geometric shape and lack of serif, which suits the masterplan typeface I had used for the title and it makes the text feel impersonal and cold. 
After much consideration, I decided to choose the poster with the monitor for a background because I felt a stronger connection with it because I spent more time trying to get the text to feel balanced and lend into the image in order to create a sense of unity. And I feel that this poster captured the character of my client more than the other designs because it is retro and unique. I did tweak this design a bit because I felt the the printed version of this poster was too pixelated, so after discussing this problem with my tutor, i went back to Photoshop and went over the masterplan typeface with a paintbrush, increasing the contrast and making the poster as a whole feel cleaner and bolder. 
I like this design because the poster has a sense of unity due to how the text blends into the image. The use of block colours adds contrast, making the poster bold and clean. The limited colour palette adds vibrance to the '1984' title, which places emphasis to the right side and informs the viewer what the poster is about. The viewers eyes are then directed in a continuous circular movement because the  logo and the text have been careful aligned with the title, balancing out the weight caused by the left side. The proportions in the poster are appropriate because the bank gothic typeface has a large enough scale for the consumer to read the poster, however, it doesn't take up too much space or draw much attention away from the title; the text is subtle, but it has enough contrast and presence to turn the viewer's attention towards that direction. I also like this piece because of the mood it creates; the neutral clouds in the background doesn't make the viewer feel any particular emotion, which reflects how the context of the film and the lack of human emotion or interaction it contains. However, the vibrancy of the red text becomes a shock to the consumer, emphasising the danger that is about to occur and makes the consumer feel alert and uneasy. the use of red symbolises love, danger and blood, conveying the tragedy within the film. The surroundings illustrate that love doesn't fit in with this world and it is hard to hide it from others. 
I am pleased with my poster because I was able to lock closer into the history of typography and I have learnt what characteristic makes each typeface an individual such as the design movements that they have originated from or the composition of the serifs and horizontals. I have learnt that each typeface has been inspired by old typefaces and the development of each typeface has changed the way we have communicated with our audience and conveyed what we are trying to indicate to them visually. I have responded to this project efficiently by collecting primary research through my visit to The Cube Microplex as well as collecting notes on the film I am designing the poster for. I was also to put research into poster layout and colour, however, I think I could have done a some research on another artist since I was not required to create annotate my sketchbook for this project; adding another artist for this project would have increased inspiration for my ideas and would have given me more ideas on layout and possibly would have encouraged me to work with medium other than photography and Photoshop software. 
I think the most successful areas of my work was generating my ideas because I found it so easy since I had so many notes to work with, which is a technique I interned to carry on to my final major project. Generating my ideas was also easier because I felt less restricted on the quantity of work i was able to produce because i knew that i didn't need to annotate it afterwards; however, the law of annotation has limited the reflection of my work, stopping me from identifying closing what concepts of my work are successful and what I need to do in each deign to improve it. 
In conclusion, my understanding of typography has improved, which I will take onto the next project, however, I would like to learn more as it has become an interest to me, and I am sure that there are some areas I haven't touched up on. I am happy with the way I have responded to my work, however, I think I could have explored more with different mediums and do some more research in order to gain inspiration on what mediums are appropriate to use in a poster.
Next, I am going to write my proposal for my final major project and discuss it with my tutor.