Periodic Element Poster
MECA GD 101; final project. Design an engaging 24x36 inch poster about an element on the periodic table of elements. The goal with this poster is to educate and capture the attention of the average elementary student, while still being sophisticated and mature design. The poster must include: element's name, atomic weight, atomic mass, minimum of 100 words, symbol, and an option catch phrase. With this poster, I wanted to visualize the gas being electrified, using lighting bolts and clouds.
First three initial concepts for the poster design. With these concepts, I focused on incorporating all of the required elements, while sticking to a color pallet. The over arching idea behind each design was Xenon glows when electrified. I played with the different ways electricity and gas can be visualized, while trying to make a cohesive and interesting design.
These are the separate design elements I used in the final poster. The squares were used to incorporate the elements symbol, also used to lead the eye throughout the poster. The positioning brings the viewer up from the bottom left corner into the center of the piece, leading you to the text. The lighting bolts and electricity are apart of the main concept of the piece; when Xenon interacts with electrical currents, it begins to glow. The forms to the far right are gas clouds that I posterized in photoshop to achieve a graphic, stark image. The clouds represent the element in its gas form.
Factual text seen throughout the poster. Using the type on a path tool in Illustrator, I designed the text to mimic the bolts of electricity. The size of the text is small and hidden to engage the viewer and encourage you to look closely at the poster, and seek out the knowledge. The text alternates from black to white for legibility within the poster, as it sits on black and white backgrounds.
These are the handwritten letterforms I created to make it appear as if the word Xenon and the catch phrase were written out in electricity. Using multiple layers of the blue effect in Illustrator, I made the text look at if it was glowing.
Final background designs. I kept it in black and white to allow for the design elements themselves to work together, and not get complicated and messy with the addition of color.
Detail shots of the final design. Everything sits together on one visual field while also being strong, stand alone elements.
Final poster design. This piece was a challenge, and forced me to take several steps back in the design process, and allow for the separate elements to speak for themselves. Designing this was a difficult yet rewarding experience.
