Using the typeface 'Soleil', I started my first design for the series of posters. I wanted to attempt to make a poster using a single typeface and various widths of it. I chose the elements that I thought were most eye-catching to go on a bold style, this being: William Shakespeare's name, the play's name and the review. Shakespeare's name is the largest thing on the page as it will be a drawcard for a lot of people to see the play as his name is very recognisable and associated with renowned plays. Next, the play's name 'Much Ado about Nothing' is second in the hierarchy as people would want to know which of Shakespeare's plays they would be seeing. The review may potentially be important to a lot of people, therefore it was important to make sure that it would standout. The less important information is written in the same typeface but in the light variation. Two different sizes were used to further show hierarchy. The date and price are slightly larger than the rest of the text to emphasise these important points. With the remaining information in the smallest sized text, creating contrast. 

This poster features a lot of centre alignment and balance as well. The use of a border draws the eye towards the centre of the page and also creates an interesting effect of Shakespeare's name. Using white space guides the viewer's gaze towards the centre where the majority of the information is. 

For the second poster, I used two typefaces to create contrast and hierarchy in the design.  Poplar Black and Helvetica Regular were both used in various sizes. I began by taking the word 'Shakespeare', an attention-grabbing word and placed in on its side, from this, I changed the opacity of each to create a fading effect. This effect will emphasise the word 'Shakespeare'. As well as this, I used a bold, slab-serif typeface to ensure that it would be eye-catching to viewers. Next in the hierarchy, the plays name 'Much Ado about Nothing' also uses the Poplar typeface as the plays name is important to advertise. This is placed in the top left corner which will make people's eyes read it in the standard left to right reading style. Below this, the use of Helvetica appears. Three sizes of this are used within the poster: 20pt, 15pt and 10pt. Firstly, 20pt is used to display the important details, which in this poster are the performance dates and ticket prices, as this information may help viewers decide if they would like to attend or not. Following, the review and cast is in 15pt as some audiences may not know the reviewer or cast members, therefore it would not change their desire to attend. Finally, the location and contact details are at the bottom, due to the fact that someone would need to decide if they wanted to go before finding out this information. 

The use of emphasis is most prominent within this poster as Shakespeare's name fills majority of the page, to draw audiences in. 

The final poster only features the typeface 'Titling Gothic' with various weights. This poster emphasises the play's title in the centre of the page. As it is the largest and most bold text on the page, viewer's eyes will instantly be draw to it. Using the same type size, the name William Shakespeare, review and cast information is next in the type hierarchy. However, slight differences are seen within all these parts to create visual interest and further depict the hierarchy. Firstly, William Shakespeare's name is shown in title case to place importance on this text as Shakespeare is a renowned playwright, therefore will influence people to see the play. Then, the review is placed at the top of the poster in regular type case as it is less influential than Shakespeare's name but still may draw people in. The cast information is placed in a black banner to contrast from the other information on the poster. Bold and regular widths are also used to create contrast between this information. Finally, the information at the bottom of the poster is all in the same size, however, the plays dates are in title case and bold. Below this, the times and prices are seen as people would next read this information in the hierarchy. 

The use of centring the main information of the poster instantly attracts the eye towards the centre of the page, then top to bottom. Therefore, the information is consumed in a manner of importance. 

Cafe Astrology https://cafeastrology.com

The Cafe Astrology website features a site title in the top left corner of the page header with no additional content. Below this there is a image aligned to the left and then a navigation bar which to aligned to the right. The banners that the title and navigation bar's are placed in feature different colours. On the launch page of the site, the website's name is shown at the top with small titles and paragraphs below it. To the right, a search bar and site menu can be seen. 

The site menu appears to be very cluttered with a lot of options available within this menu. The title for site menu is in a pink shade and below the menu links are in the same typeface but bold and green. Hierarchy is not used here as the title should be bold to emphasise what the function is instead of the menu. The main body of text has the site name in pink large letters at the top. The paragraphs following have headers in a bold green font and paragraphs being in a different black font. Little variation can be seen in size but spacing is used to create hierarchy. The title in the top of the page has almost no presence on the page. The navigation bar being pushed to the right does not follow traditional reading patterns of the eye. 

The positive aspects of this website's design is the colour palette and use of different typefaces. The colour palette within this website helps emphasise certain aspects of the site, which assists in creating a hierarchy. Titles and banners are in pink and green to draw your eye to those elements. An attempt of creating a type hierarchy can be observed as different typefaces are used to attempt to make contrast. However, the overall effect lacks as size and width are not considered. The negative design aspects include the layout and overall contrast in typography. The layout is excessive in the amount of type used, this is harsh on the eye and makes it difficult to follow. The alignment of elements on the page are nonsensical and not cohesive. The lack of different variations in the text also makes it difficult to read. 

Using similar typefaces and keeping all other elements the same, I redesigned the Cafe Astrology website to be more visually appealing. I begun by creating the websites name the largest thing on the page and centring it. This will capture the attention of any visitors. I also made it pink and a featured serif typeface to further stand out. Below, I also centre aligned the navigation bar so it appears more important on the site. This uses a san serif typeface which is italicised to communicate that they are links. Next, I used the san serif typeface again but in a different colour and slightly smaller as a welcome to the page. The original design lacked emphasis on certain important features. I used the san serif typeface again and put the link in italics to match the links in the navigation bar. I condensed the amount of links in the site menu to three and placed them in boxes horizontally along the screen. This is more modern and draws attention to the most commonly used links on the site. The boxes are also coloured to contrast from the background. Underneath, a title is seen in the green san-serif style to create hierarchy. 

References

Saltz, I. Typography: Hierarchy and Navigation by Ina Saltz [Video]. Retrieved 30 April 2020, from https://www.linkedin.com/learning/typography-hierarchy-and-navigation?trk=embed_lil.

Taboada, M. (2020). Week 8 - Typographic Hierarchy // Project Demo. Lecture, QUT.