Design ProcessBy Tamara Mitchell

Poster

Design Rationale Goal: Using an educational poster design, move the

viewer to develop digital writing skills by recognizing the

computer as an object of opportunity and writing as an

action critical to careers.

Audience: The design is directed toward young adults and

adults capable of pursuing internship and career

opportunities.

Message: Convince viewers of the relevance of writing

skills to boundaryless careers (a term used by career

counselors), global opportunities, and personal

advancement.

Initial

Design

Key Choices

The first design was an attempt to create a visual representation of career possibilities

without boundaries by creating the feeling of open space using a muted image

of the world.

Visuals A satellite image of the earth, taken by NASA (available at

unsplash.com), was selected as a background image. A white

overlay was placed on top of the image to make the text

legible. I drew the globe using design software. I found an

open source map at http://d-

maps.com/m/world/centreameriques/centreameriques04.svg .

This accurate map of the world was wrapped behind the

globe lines to add accuracy and visual interest.

Initial

Design

#2

Design

Key Changes & Choices

After evaluating the first design, I wanted to make the poster more visually interesting.

Connecting the text to the image of the map helped to reinforce the educational

message of global career possibilities.

Visuals A semi-transparent blue overlay was placed on 2/3 of the

NASA image to expose the image to view and add visual

interest by using the rule of thirds.

Alignment The text was aligned on the left side of the page to

improve legibility.

Color White text adds legibility and contrast to the subheader

and body text. The blue overlay reflects the color of the

areas where the land meets the ocean.

Typography Three fonts are used on the design: Alura Brush to enhance

“Write”, Sans Serif as a foundational font, and Stencil as a

map-type font.

#2

Design

#2

Design

Key Changes & Choices

This slide represents an initial experiment with color. I wanted to use the background

Image of the world to experiment with a triad color scheme.

#2

Design

Visuals The overlay was removed completely to reveal the

blue in the photo. The message in the body text was

divided into three main points. Each point was

separated by whitespace.

Repetition The red from the text highlight on the word “Write”

is repeated on the globe.

Color Red and yellow text highlights were used on the

subtitle to develop a triad color scheme with the

blue background image. The body text was changed

to a light blue for readability purposes.

Alignment To add visual interest, I left-aligned the subheader

and text to contrast with the right-aligned globe.

#3

Design

Key Changes & Choices

In this design, alignment was used to imply an emphatic message and emphasize

that writing skills are critical to accessing job opportunities and achieving career

success.

Alignment Text is shaped into an exclamation mark on the left 2/3 of

the poster.

Contrast The shape of the exclamation mark coupled with the

exclamatory phrase “Write Now” adds contrast to the

seemingly tranquil image of the land and sea. Key words in

the text are bold to help them stand out from the rest of

the text and to quickly communicate key terms to the

viewer.

Typography ”Write” appears as written text and is curved to complete

the top of the exclamation point. The blue and yellow colors

mirror the colors in the image.

#3

Design

#4

Design

Key Changes & Choices

To emphasize that writing strategies and career opportunities are available to the

average person, a less-sophisticated style is used: bold triad colors and contrasting

alignments help with this mode of design.

Visuals The globe reminds the viewer that careers can be unlimited

and opportunities are available throughout the world. The

globe moves slightly beyond the border on the page to

emphasize the size of the globe and visually repeat the

without boundary concept.

Proximity Since the computer is a tool of writing, the text is placed

on the computer to connect the tech to the theme of the

text. Contrasting text alignments lead your eye diagonally

down the page.

Color Using the briefcase color as the base color, triad colors are

used: blue, green, and reddish-brown.

Typography The font used in the body text mimics the on screen text

of many computers. The focus on tools used for writing

also occurs in the word “Write” to mirror a typewriter font.

#4

Design

#5

Design

#5

Design

Visuals I wrapped a portion of the NASA image from the first

three designs around a globe to build a new element. The

circular shape of the globe is repeated on the page.

Typography The NASA image is used as a fill in the title text. The

“Write Now” is restructured to emphasize “Now” (“Careers”

is also emphasized in the title text). The body text flows

into a circular frame. Each portion of text is divided by a

circle repeating the round elements on the page.

Color Blues and yellow-oranges are used to repeat the colors

from the image and form a complementary color scheme.

Key Changes & Choices

This poster was designed to be visually understated and emphasize interesting

typography by using plenty of whitespace and a repetition of shapes. The whitespace

repeats the without borders theme and is primarily placed around the header. The

circles are placed on 2/3 of the page and add visual weight to the are with lengthier text.

#6

Design

#6

DesignKey Changes & Choices

The image of the globe is paired with the computer to help viewers consider

the computer as an object of action, strategy, and outreach.

Visuals The laptop from design #4 and the globe from design #5

represent the connection between tools for writing and

global opportunities. The laptop is used as a visual anchor

on the right of the page.

Typography The body text grows larger to emphasize the last line of

text calling for a mastery of digital writing strategies.

Color Triad colors are used in the text to maintain visual interest

with contrasting colors.

Text Stronger verbs and concrete nouns are used to revise the

message into a call to action.

Alignment The title text spans the page and hovers above the globe to

connect text and image. The body text is left-aligned for

legibility purposes.

Proximity The slant of the body text leads toward the computer.

Final

Design