- While some posters rely on a central image
to communicate a message,
others are typographic.
The content may be best expressed with copy
or the poster is meant to be posted
and provide information.
Now, everyone I know tends to freak out a bit
when we talk about typography on a poster.
But don't worry about this too much,
think of typography as pictures of words.
There may be instances when you need to add more information
to the front of the poster than you'd like
but that's just a good challenge.
The biggest danger when designing a typographic poster
is creating a giant brochure.
The poster may contain similar information
but it still has the job to grab the viewer's attention.
The grid can help guide the scale and placement to do this.
The grid here is important
to organize the information and provide hierarchy.
Since I'm working on a large-scale
and have a large amount of content to handle,
I create a grid with 16 columns and 12 hanglines.
This will give me the flexibility I need.
The next step is to determine the levels of importance.
Now, everything on the poster is important
but if everything is screaming at the same level,
nothing is heard.
Once I've organized my content into the headline,
subheads and body text,
I can begin the layout.
In these instances,
I use a column grid.
This helps me organize the body text
and maintain consistency.
A line length that is the same from column to column
will help the viewer understand the types of information.
A common error is to make the type too large
on the body text of a poster.
Nobody is going to read multiple paragraphs
from a passing bus.
The chances are good
that the viewer will walk up to the poster and read them.
So don't feel that all the type need to be huge.
I still work with sizes that are related,
if the body text is 12 point,
the subheads are 18 point,
introduction copy is 24 point and so on.
Without the grid the type is simply floating
with no relationship.
Aligning it to the grid structure
will maintain a cohesive layout,
the scale of the typography will create the energy.
So that I don't drive myself mad with too many choices,
I start with one typeface only
and change only the scale.
If I have 12 fonts on a page,
the viewer can be confused,
trying to understand why
one type of information is in bodoni
while another in garamond
and the third in something decorative.
I also religiously adhere to the same alignment
on all typography.
I'm sure someone more talented could work with
flush left, centered and flush right text
on the same piece.
But I find it to be confusing and unrefined.
Once the type is in place, I play with color.
I try a solid background and different colors.
Copy and paste the page onto several pages
and do a few versions.
You're the only one who will see these so explore.
Typographic posters demand more structure
than a singular image
but the results can be spectacular.
Stick with the grid and a simple typographic language
and you'll do fine.
The grid will provide the necessary structure
and let you play with the layout issues
such as size and color
without being overwhelmed by a big empty canvas.