Propaganda Poster Project

From last class:

In the lab you will have 3 separate tasks.

#1: Please view and read the following article by Steven Bradley from "Smashing Magazine" on Design Principles. Identify and explain the following concepts (to be collected at end of class today!):

• Dominance
• How to establish dominance
• The dominant element
• Focal Point
• Levels of Dominance: dominant, subdominant, subordinate
• Visual Hierarchy
• Inverted Pyramid (handy info for writers!)

#2: Check out one of the poster sites below and view some graphic design/poster examples/models. As you view, look specifically for examples of dominance, focal point, visual hierarchy, size, contrast, color, symmetry, style, grouping, unity, and similarity (see graphic above). See if you can identify these elements working to create an effective graphic design.

• Poster Art Digital Library  
• Art of the Poster (see the menu selections for archives on the left side of the page)
• Digital Library: Art & Design
• Washington University Archive
• Mondotees Archive

#3: When you have completed tasks 1 & 2, please use the graphic organizer (see handouts) to design a poster idea for your propaganda poster project.
Use what you learned today about the principles of design and hierarchy to sketch a mock up of your idea. Include key words or phrases that you would want on your poster. What color, style, contrast, etc. would you want for your poster? Include a 100-200 word description of WHAT YOU WANT to communicate with your peer artist. Use the vocabulary you learned to explain yourself.

How to do this:

• identify a current, modern-day issue that you feel passionate about
• What images come to your mind when you think of this issue? (jot these in the note section)
• What words or phrases do you think of?
• Can you connect a song, poem, person, celebrity, symbol, or popular culture item to the issue?
• What colors, shapes, lines, graphic elements (see above) might be connected to this issue?

Then: Create and design! Spend your time in the lab to work on your idea.

By the end of class today, please turn in any missing work, your notes on Steven Bradley's article (see above), and your rough sketch idea/explanation for your poster.

HOMEWORK: None.