From propaganda to advertising, posters are a ubiquitous, powerful vehicle to
take a message to the masses. Over four weeks, learn how to approach poster
design in a creative and practical way. Although some computer work will be
introduced, it will only be used as another production tool, participants will
be encouraged to experiment with analogue techniques such as collage and
hand-generated type.
You will learn about the history of poster design; learn to use aspects of Adobe
InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop; develop approaches to letterform and
layout.
The emphasis of this course is on the development of a set of posters from
research and design through to output.
Week 1: History
History of Poster Design: Looking at significant and famous posters from around
the globe and their impact on society.
Practical activity: After a quick introduction to InDesign we will recreate one
of these posters, studying the component parts and their relationships to one
another.
Homework: Think of a concept for your design. What is it for? Who is your target
audience? Where and how will it be displayed? Select a favourite poster to bring
in or discuss with the group in week 2.
Week 2: Image
We will begin by discussing participant posters they have brought in to share
and look at positives and potential negatives within the designs.
Image selection can be a key factor to the success of your poster campaign. We
will think about the choices between photography and illustration looking at
examples of how this is done successfully. Think about the different ways we can
generate and use images.
Practical activity: Consider what medium the image might be and how it can be
created. Learn about flatbed/film scanner for potential use in image creation.
Week 3: Fonts
We will look at how typography impacts designs and the messages that it can
convey by itself. Consider various approaches to how we can generate type. How
typographic selections work alongside selected images.
Practical activity: Work through a few typographic workshops thinking about how
typographic choices will alter the message you are trying to convey. We will
consider various ways and techniques of creating type for our poster.
Homework: Developing your typographic solution further, if required. Work
through variations of layout.
Week 4: Output
Continue working on our posters making final tweaks and selecting the poster
that is our most successful design for output. We will look at the various
formats for output and how we prepare our posters for print.
Look at usage of different poster sizes – why use one over the other??
Practical activity: Size your final poster and get it ready for output (if
working analogue, scan final poster and upscale).
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Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five
days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation.
Please read our cancellation policy before booking.
Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of
benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full
course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of
the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.