Assignment 9: Museum Posters: Experiments, thumbnails and selection

In this post I will document what I did next in order to generate options for the poster designs. Following this, I will address the specific questions asked in the assignment brief, hopefully by referencing some of the processes I’m about to share.

Having narrowed down my selection of photos to objects that could be of interest to the three target audiences, I used mind maps to explore ways in which I might use the objects for the focus of each poster. I created a separate mind map for each age group.

The above are the shortlisted photos

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The mind map for children

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The mind map for teens

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The mind map for adults

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I worked on the mind map for the teens first because I only really had one object for this age group: the bus stop installation.Given that I want there to be some element of continuity across all three posters to show that they’re all about the same venue, it seemed best to begin with the section with least material. Looking at the photos, I felt that a photo would be the best medium, rather than creating a drawing or collage of it. The visual impact relies on the fact that there’s a real bus shelter in this gallery space. For the same reason I decided to work with photographs that show the wider view of the bus shelter within the gallery space, with pictures on the walls around it. While I liked some of the zoomed in images they didn’t have the same impact or tell the same story.

Having decided on photography as my medium for the teen poster, I then used my other mind maps to explore ideas with photos in mind. For the children I initially thought that showing an activity could be a good way to make an impact, but looking at the photos, the activities didn’t look very exciting and I felt children could easily do something similar at home. However, I looked back at some of my more abstract metalwork photos and thought that I could use some of them to create a new activity. I had the idea of the images being clues in a treasure hunt, and the children could go around the exhibitions trying to find the pictured objects. This would get them looking at things in a different way, and also really looking at the objects in the exhibitions. As well as the poster, there would need to be a hand held flyer with the images for each child to carry and mark off. 

That left the adults. For this I really thought the object would be the huge and beautiful ammonite at the front of the Ruskin gallery because it truly is a thing of beauty. However, when I came to my thumbnails I felt much more drawn to use the rival Henderson’s Relish bottles, which had been labelled up one for Sheffield Wednesday and one for Sheffield United. I’m not a football fan but the composition of Sheffield-made Henderson’s Relish with the rival football strips on their labels spoke to me of Sheffield in a way other exhibits couldn’t match. This mini installation would resonate with the local population in a way and to an extent that even a prestigious gallery like this one couldn’t normally reach. So, to my surprise, I found my thumbnails zeroing in on this image.

Oh yes, the thumbnails:

As I drew, I tried to think about and suggest visual hierarchies in the way I noted with the posters on the tram. I also began to think about colour schemes by replicating colours I found in the photos. I combined these to make some thumbnails of my favourite thumbnails!

As a way of testing out some of these colour combinations I printed out small versions of the photographs I plan to use and I took photos of them placed on different coloured backgrounds. I couldn’t quickly access the exact colours I’d drawn, but I have a book of coloured card and I used pages from this as sample backgrounds. I didn’t include the football image in this process as the colours for that are set by the colours of the football shirts.

It’s interesting to note the way in which the camera has interpreted the colours within the photos differently against the different backgrounds. This reminds me on my photography elective, in which we learned that cameras are programmed to find the mid tones, and this can have a big effect on colour dynamics. When laying out the final poster designs it will be important to keep an eye on those hues being changed by their backgrounds and adjust accordingly.

A few points to note from these: the mid blue background to the bus shelter draws the eye through the blue-looking exit from the gallery - the opposite of what I’m looking for. The silverware abstracts look good on black, but black doesn’t seem suggestive of a fun treasure hunt for children. Lime and red also work well. Surprisingly red works quite well with the bus shelter too. I decided to trial the images with a more orange red, which is more akin to the United football strip too. I didn’t have a plain background of that colour but this patterned paper gives an idea:

While the football relish image would need blue in its background too, or there could be civil war, there is something pleasing in finding a colour which works relatively well with all three images. I’m not sure, however, whether having the same colour used across the demographics would be seen as desirable. Perhaps the different age groups would want to be marketed to differently from their elders or youngers. Something to ponder.

Returning to the assignment brief, there is a set of bullet points that I don’t think I’ve yet fully addressed. Do I want to create a character and story board or set my objects in their geographic locations or make them more abstract or more decorative, etc. With the exception of that last one, the answer is no. That probably doesn’t suffice! So the longer answer is that I chose to be limited by the teen image requirements and translate them to the other posters too. I already outlined my reasons for working with realistic photography and situating the object firmly within the gallery. This approach also applies to the Henderson’s shelf. It needs to be seen as a gallery exhibit for football fans the city over know where to come and find it. With the children’s images (and yes, I’m cheating here by using details from four objects, not one) they are also realistic photographs but they gain a feeling of abstraction because it’s not clear what the objects as a whole are. Strictly speaking, though, I’m using the same methodology across all three designs, with realistic photos being the main visual element. I am determined to get these posters to be simple this time round, so I don’t want to introduce added complications by having a cartoon character moseying through the designs, and I don’t want to lift them out if the gallery to appropriate geographical locations. I want the viewers to come to the gallery, not wander off to buy a bottle of Hendo’s from the factory shop. I haven’t made a visual study of all these things I’ve decided not to do. I have been guided by the place of least choice (the teen poster) and extrapolated from there. There is little point in creating approaches I’ve already discounted because of an important consideration. Additionally, while part of my love of mixed media is the mixing and layering of elements, it doesn’t tend to lend itself to simplicity easily. I am determined to make simple posters this time! 

There will be a further post once I’ve worked up these designs a bit and made some finished work. I will likely take this into digital at the end of the process, but first I think there will be a bit of collage as I work on some colour visuals arising from my thumbnails.