“Clarity” Reductionist Poster
A concrete poem poster design
Project Brief
Design Challenge: How could a single everyday object be used in a reductionist poster design?
This project involved reducing a physical object to flat duotone design. Only two colors could be used to distinguish the most important features of the object. Relevant text was to accompany the image.
Skills & Tools Used:
The Final Design
The final reductionist design of a light bulb with connected typography. The keyword ‘Clarity’ replaces the hanging lightbulb chain, and the poem itself fans out from the light source.
The Design Process
After selecting the object, it had to be reduced. This was a process of photographing, editing, photo and tracing with the pen tool. The difficulty was knowing which details of the object were salient, and which could be left out. Keywords and color schemes were explored, to get a sense of relationship with the object. Once colors and text were developed enough multiple layouts were composited.
Conclusion
The design creates a conceptual juxtaposition of dark and light themes. The poem makes references to the darkness within people. This corresponds with shadows created by light sources.
This poster was designed for Graphic Design I course taught by Mimi Sheiner at SFSU (2017). The poem is written by auhsoJHaynes and published on HelloPoetry.com.