Design Rationale

This project required a poster design for a series of talks given by various designers. It included a large amount of body copy, a title, address, website and the dates and times of the events. Because the event is to be held in a museum and the speakers are designers, it can be extrapolated that the target audience is primarily designers, students, and art enthusiasts. The client appears to be the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

For the solution, an aerial photograph of New York City that is in the public domain was selected to be used in the background. It was converted to grayscale and a gradient was overlaid to increase the contrast between the photo and the type. The general attitude of the poster is modern, due to the name of the event including “Now”. The angled shapes attempt to create an exciting sense of movement throughout the design while highlighting the type. The modular typeface was worked in as a visual design element rather than a typographic element for legibility purposes, and it adds a digital aesthetic to the poster in line with the modern theme. The chosen typeface is Univers, again keeping the theme of a modern design. The use of the condensed font adds a feeling of sophistication complementary to a museum and design event. A light blue is the only color used which gives a clean and modern impression when combined with the black and white shades throughout the poster. All of these modern and sophisticated elements come together to create a smooth and exciting identity for the event that would hopefully entice designers and art-lovers alike to attend.