3 iterations of 3 posters, brought to you by adobe.

if you're just tuning in, we've been digitizing our collages... for each pairing/collage idea, we were to generate 3 digital poster concepts, distinct from one another, but obviously built from the same materials.
today we had a one-on-one critique with jamie as well as partner critiques. we are to ask ourselves the following questions, both about our own work, and then about our partner's:


1. What is the visual strength of the image/line study selection and pairing? How could it be improved?
2. How is the photograph legible, well composed, engaging? How should it be improved?
3. Is line quality study well crafted? Where should it be improved?
4. Is the type choice and placement integrated and appropriate?
5. How does the overall composition dynamically employ principles of scale, framing, orientation, alignment, continuation? How could it be improved?
6. How well do the graphic elements communicate the neighborhood?

3 goes at the plaza:

for the plaza:

1. the imagery and the line composition work better in a compound vertical composition than as a direct horizontal extension, as evidenced by how much more effective the second and third posters are as compared to the first. the line study echoes the layering complexity of the ornament, but in a more holistic way than simply direct representation. it could potentially be stronger with a more precisely aligned line study, but i also think that a line study that matched up with all the sections of the ornament would do more to fragment the border and i would rather it act as a single wide unit rather than many thin separate units.

2. the photograph is easily legible, it is an architectural accent and even the removal of the wall & door, its context, doesn't affect how the image is read. it is a straight forward, cleanly cropped shot, of an inoffensive object, and displayed in a non-threatening manner. it is engaging more for its beauty than for its weighty meaning.

3. the line study is built of clean vectors from my/mckenzie's random simple lines. 

4. the type is most effective in the second poster, the one with the frame and the seriffed typeface with the wingding flourish. the scripts, while expressing a feeling of the plaza fairly effectively, don't do much else and are otherwise rather dull and potentially hard to read. 

5. scale is used most predominantly in the type, the shift between "the" and "plaza". the framing is very simple and the alignment of graphic elements is centered. in future iterations, the text may be more effectively offset. continuation exists from the dark horizontals of the photograph to the dark horizontals of the line study in 2 & 3, but doesn't work so well in 1. i'm sorry, 1. i thought going at it a different way would be valuable. that particular different way is not so good as it seemed like it was going to be.

6. the ornamental border is very characteristic of the pseudo-european decor of the plaza, and its beauty, devoid of context, also seems more cynically fitting. it has a very clean, basic elegance that i would like to continue highlighting with the use of my type. lastly, and this is the most cynical of all but made me giggle once i started thinking about... all of these compositions resemble, at least in some way, due to the use of the random line study, a bar code. how fitting for a place so expensive! but subtle and hidden in beauty. i'm so pleased with that.

the valentine neighborhood:

for the valentine: 

1. the image and line study for this neighborhood are really powerful and exciting, and depending on what swatch of xeroxed zebraflesh i chose, it has worked as both a strong comparison and also a fairly strong continuation. it was much more valuable to have the possibility of continuation for the composition i wanted to construct for this, however, so that's what we see in these posters, rather than a duplication of shapes. 

2. the photograph is legible, even without its context. it depicts lights, and not utility lights, but the lights of entertainment. the jump from just those lightbulbs to the uptown theatre might be a bit far for those who are unfamiliar with it, but i think even so, the idea of a venue comes through loud and clear. the composition of the photo is fairly dynamic simply because of its subject matter. it could perhaps do with less heightened contrast.

3. the line study is less than well crafted, being a hand generated manipulation. i vectored the xerox shapes, but tried to remain true to their forms. it was not necessarily a good choice for the end product, but very informative for the process! which is to say they don't look so great, and presently i will be redrawing them with the smooth perfection of happy béziers rather than trying to mimic the awkward  analog shaking that generated the lines in the first place.

4. the first placement is perhaps the most appropriate with regards to type, but none of the typefaces are particularly appropriate. jamie also raised a good point that the photograph is built out of arrowpoints, and they while they take the eye right off to the left, they don't actually direct the viewer towards anything in particular. which is to say there's a good opportunity to experiment with putting the type closer to that natural focal point. 

5. these compositions really rely on framing and continuation to build a flowing pattern out of the lightbulb structure, and while they are eye-grabbing enough, they will be more effective when i work out some of the difficulties of their connections and orientation within the page. 

6. the valentine neighborhood is surrounded by colleges and as such it contains a fair amount of restaurants, hangouts, and the historical uptown concert venue as entertainment destinations. the compositions really capture the heart of the uptown, which itself is at the heart of the neighborhood, on broadway & valentine.

and westport:

and for westport: 

1. the image and line study work very well together when their scaling is perfect. when the white lines from the complex progression composition are the same stroke weight as the bricks, they align quite nicely despite their differing patterns. i just need to take care that they are scaled exactly, and that when they overlap, they can act like bricks by being consistent in their size and orientation. 

2. the photograph is very legible as a brick wall with accent bricks that stick out. it is fairly simple. i've really wrestled with the perspective, however, again due to the fact that i am a short lady trying to take a picture of a tall structure, which from any angle or distance is necessarily skewed at least some due to our respective sizes and distance. i think it is pretty well under control but just that i must be careful not to let that become too noticeable or distracting. 

3. the line study is a clean vector complex line study (progression!) from mckenzie's/my collection. i just need to make sure that the places where the line study and the bricks meet, they meet well instead of haphazardly.

4. the type hanging onto the white bars was a worthy experiment but ultimately not as fruitful as i'd hoped. its size and orientation in poster 1 is closest to what i will be working towards, but likely with a different typeface.

5. it's amazing how much more dynamic a composition can become simply by rotating it 45º. these posters should be using alignment to create the idea that the bricks and white bars are related, and continuation should appear when that alignment is really successful, as though the bricks are morphing into clean white vector.

6. westport is an extremely, extremely historical part of town (the oldest, if i am not mistaken), a sort of jumping off point for the trails of manifest destiny's westward expansion. nowadays, it's a happening sort of district, with young hipsters practicing their nightlife alongside the american historical mythology. the transformation of solid, tangible brick into intangible digital, particularly on a black field, is representative of the generations passing into the future, as well as the hardworking day turning into the night.