Demystifying Graphic Design: How Posters Work
Ellen Lupton, a museum curator, invites participants to join her for a one-hour class exploring the fundamentals of graphic design. During the class, participants will visit the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and learn about the six moves that make modern graphic design so effective. They will also create a film poster to apply their newfound knowledge. ▼
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Course Feature
Cost:
Free Trial
Provider:
Skillshare
Certificate:
Paid Certification
Language:
English
Start Date:
On-Demand
Course Overview
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Updated in [February 21st, 2023]
Join museum curator Ellen Lupton for a one-hour class exploring how posters work! Youll go inside New York Citys Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum explore the six moves that make modern graphic design so compelling and create a film poster of your own a surprising and powerful homage to a cinematic masterpiece
This course is inspired by Cooper Hewitts 2015 book and exhibition How Posters Work presenting works from the museums astonishing collection of over 4000 historic and contemporary posters Every lesson is filled with inventive and authentic pieces from this astonishing collection from Polish film posters to political propaganda Ellen shows you how to tell a story excite the eye and use visual language to create emotional effective design Plus Ellen shares her own poster design process in a hands-on design lesson Explore the museums collection at wwwcooperhewittorg
This class is perfect for graphic designers illustrators and enthusiasts alike All you need is a passion for design a curious eye and love for a visual story
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What Youll Learn
Introduction
People may tell you that posters are dead They're not they're all around us telling visual stories announcing events and bringing ideas to life In this class you'll learn graphic design as it applies to poster making by working on your own poster and exploring the poster collection from the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York
Assignment
Ellen Lupton will assign you the task of making a movie poster for a film with a simple object name in its title You'll start by coming up with the story you want your poster to tell before moving onto iconography simplification overlapping and making your poster dynamic
Tell a story
When you design posters you're using a single frame to communicate an entire story arc You'll learn how to bring action into your poster through suspense surprise and by focusing on essential elements [Knowing how much to put in and how much to take out] says Ellen is key to ensuring every piece of your poster contributes to the drama
Activate the diagonal
You can add energy and motion to your 2-D design with diagonal lines You'll learn how angles can suggest motion and depth and how to think about taking viewers' eyes on a journey when you're designing graphics for your poster
Simplify
You'll learn how to represent items in their simplest forms Whether you're out to design book covers billboards or TV posters using pared down icons can help you communicate big ideas while staying low on clutter You'll consider the [iconic] forms of everyday items and figure out what's worth highlighting and what's worth eliminating
Overlap
You'll learn how to create illusions of depth in 2-D spaces through overlap and transparency Ellen will look at posters that employ multiple planes and collapsing design elements
Focus the eye
You'll explore various ways to use design to direct how people look at your poster drawing inspiration from psychedelic posters of the 1960s to single-focus posters of the early 1900s Ellen will explain how you can choose between having a single focal point and no focal points depending on what you want viewers to pay attention to first
Assault the surface
Graphic designing is an active process and you can show that in your poster Ellen will teach you how to transform your work into a physical artifact by transforming the making of the poster into part of its own narrative You'll establish the mood for your movie poster
Visiting Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
You'll take a second look at many of the posters examined earlier in this lesson and see how you can physically experience design with interactive projects
Creating a poster
Now it's time to put what you've learned so far to use You'll watch as Ellen designs her own movie poster for Alfred Hitchcock's [The Birds] and get inside her process from brainstorming to sketching to final product
Final thoughts
Now that we've studied these universal principles of design Ellen encourages you to take what you've learned and apply it! Through this class you're able to recognize the action and emotion of a movie to create a poster that accurately represents the movie's personality
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This class is presented in collaboration with Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Pros & Cons
Inspirational experience
Engaging and enthusiastic teacher
Explore key points
Interesting lesson about visual marketing
Practically helpful for construction and analysis
Digestible length, well thought organization
Eloquent and passionate teacher
Understand how graphic works
None
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