The Poster Series — Social Cause

Posted on:  Sep 05, 2023

Whether a poster is a promotion for an art exhibit, a musical group, or the voice of dissent, it is common to see one tacked on a wall or framed, hanging in homes and offices alongside paintings, photographs, and fine art prints. no other graphic design format has successfully captured the attention and hearts of museum curators, art critics, social historians, and the public. Some people have extensive poster collections that contain either a variety of posters or a series.

A graphic design solution can be a catalyst for change. If you had a chance to raise your voice in protest through a poster—what would you protest? War? Child abuse? Pollution? What would you promote? Freedom? Clean water? To whom would you appeal? Select one cause that you deem important.

Bird, Shark
Agency: DDB

Bird, Shark
Agency: DDB

Emirates Environmental Group
Nylon bags, Crude oil, Bottle caps
Agency: JWT

Emirates Environmental Group
Nylon bags, Crude oil, Bottle caps
Agency: JWT

Quebec Automobile Insurance Company: “Buckle Up and Stay Alive”<

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Copenhagen, Denmark
Creative Director: Simon Wooller
Art Directors / Copywriters: Cliff Kagawa Holm, Silas Jansson

Rosa Veliky

Jillian Gorman

Sydney Utesch

Nicole McLoughlin

EXERCISE: Catalyst for Change

A graphic design solution can be a catalyst for change. If you had a chance to raise your voice in protest through a poster, what would you protest? War? Child abuse? Pollution? What would you promote? Freedom? Clean water? To whom would you appeal? Select one cause that you deem important.

Start with a blank sheet of paper and complete the following:

• Sketch or write as many objects as you can think of having similarities to your subject. If you’re having difficulty, use attribute listing to help you or treat this as a kind of Rorschach inkblot test, where you sketch the first thing that comes to mind when asking yourself, “What might this remind me of or be similar to?”
• Sketch visual metaphors, at least two, for your cause.

Attribute listing involves identifying the key design features of the potential product, service or strategy that you want to develop.

Attribute Listing:

In morphological analysis, you formalize these features in a matrix. Then, you choose interesting combinations of items or select items at random from each column. [1]

[1] Zwicky, F. (1969). ‘Discovery, Invention, Research Through the Morphological Approach,’ London: Macmillan.

POSTER DESIGN FOR A SOCIAL OR POLITICAL CAUSE

Step 1

1. Select a social or political cause. Gather information about it.
2. Find related visuals to use as references.
3. Write a design brief. Define the purpose and function of the poster, the audience, and the information to be communicated.
4. Generate a few design concepts. Concentrate your conceptual thinking on finding a way to prompt people to think about the cause. Select and refine one concept.

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Step 2

1. Determine whether the poster should be visually or type-driven.
2. Your poster should be able to grab the attention of people walking by.
3. The poster should include the social cause’s web address and phone number so that people can take action.
4. Determine at least three different ways your concept could be visualized. (sketches).

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Step 3

1. Produce at least two roughs (In Illustrator/Photoshop) before starting the final comp.
2. Be sure to establish a visual hierarchy.
3. The poster can be in either a vertical or a horizontal format.

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Step 4

1. Refine the roughs. Create one Final comp.
2. The size, shape, and proportion should be dictated by your strategy, design concept, and where the poster will be seen (environment).
3. Use two main colors. Use supplementary colors when you feel it’s appropriate.

<https://www.nuggetofjoy.com/40-of-the-most-powerful-social-issue-ads-thatll-make-you-stop-and-think/>

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Resources:

Landa R. (2014). Graphic design solutions (5th edition international). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.