Task: You are to take a famous person (living or dead, from any time in history) and devise a type-based poster celebrating their life. You are to take your design inspiration from the historical, cultural, ethical and environmental context surrounding your chosen person. The poster is to advertise a specific fictitious event and as such must contain relevant information as to where and when the event is taking place.
First trial, taking Baudelaire's essence through an overloaded composition of bohemian inspiration. Brushes made out of samples of his handwriting filling the silhouette of his self portrait over ink stains. Blue to reflect his melancholy and an aged paper to symbolised poetry and romanticism.
Second trial.Lautrec's style this time, going for a more simplified idea. One of Baudelaire's sketches for his work "la fanfarlo", filled up with text wrapped to the shapes. Bright colours to call attention, red for his passion and blue again for melancholy, inside female body's to remark his womanising and lifestyle as a beauty admirer.
Back to the first concept in a much more simplified way. Another self portrait silhouette, sketched out of text this time. His signature is the tittle for the poster and then the basic information at the bottom, simple and intently communicative.
Remarking now his dandy philosophies and carry on with the adaptation of his own drawings, two different designs out of the same idea: picture into shape, creating a visual illusion where you can chose to see the drawing or read the text, but not at the same time. This catches the pedestrians attention and makes them stop to wonder what are they looking at.
It has a non intentioned agresive aspect that may couse subconcious rejection.
And what i tought would be the last poster design, combining the romantic old paper, the dandy concept and the simplicity in a very basic image focus to send a clear message, whilst keeping the aesthetic quality.
I keep having to remind myself that the simplier the better. As I'm still not convinced with my previous designs, I force myself into using only 2 fonts, 2 plane basic colours, dominant black and white, simpler figures and higher contrasts, aiming for a more type-poster like design. the result: a most profesional, clear, and visualy relaxed poster, where the information hits you straightaway.
