 |
When I recall these words taken from a quote by the renowned graphic designer Paul Rand, I tend to change the spelling and the meaning slightly to say “...make it big...make it ‘read,’ ” as inspiration for designing a promotion that needs to quickly catch the eye of an urban audience. At one time, a graphic designer’s tried and true method for promoting an event or advertising a product was the poster. From the mid-19th century through the mid-20th century, posters dominated communications. From dynamic, single-color letterpress creations, to beautiful full-color stone lithographs, posters were an opportunity to make a graphic impact on a wide audience. Today, with new production technology, the poster has grown both exponentially larger, appearing as huge banners that can cover the entire side of a building, or they have succumbed to miniature sizing on phones and tablets for electronic advertising like Facebook and Instagram.
Every once in a while, however, there is an opportunity to revitalize the pedestrian-scaled poster. Colleges still recognize the power of the poster to advertise to a continuous flow of foot traffic, pulling the attention of students away from micro-size phone images. Check out these two posters, designed by art270 Vice President Dianne Mill, for recent Montgomery County Community College art exhibitions. The faculty art show poster has a little fun mimicking renaissance still life paintings, and the student art show poster highlights the actual art students for the imagery. Both solutions helped to create conversation and drive a larger show turnout.
When was the last time you used the power of the poster to promote your event or advertise your products and services? If you work in a high foot traffic area, you should think about posters. Do you ride the train every day or take a bus to work? How many times have you read that same poster at the end of the train car or on the train platform day in and day out?
Could your business benefit from well-placed poster exposure? Call or write Dana Breslin at 215-885-2756/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.