Poster research & inspiration.

I searched for a variety of captivating poster / ad / designs that used a mix of different rhetorical devices to portray their message. Some I found visually stimulating, others employed very clever strategy in bringing light upon certain issues.

This clever image brings light to racial issues and the concept of skin color, they do this by pointing out how wrong it is that there is only one color considered a "flesh tone". These crayons are recognizable as crayola brand, but they have subverted the imagery in order to get their point across in a very effective manner.

I find this image immediately confronting and bold, and that is entirely their intention. The blatant use of red, the symbolism of the noose which doubles as a stop sign -- their message is very clear and there is no confusion. They want to stop the death penalty and I think this is a very effective poster.

The above poster was created as part of the 'free the nipple' movement that has been around on social media lately. They convey a defiant and angry mood quite effectively through facial expression, the bold type draws your attention right where they want it to go. :)

The above design was created in memorial for people who died during a marathon in the US, they created a giant heart out of running shoes which are an obvious symbol. The little details of every shoe make the image have such an interesting texture overall. The empty shoes make the image a bit bittersweet though - as if they could be the shoes left in the closet of the many people who died. :(

This poster is about gender inequality, and quite effectively points out the difference in pay between men and women using only text. It's what the text says that matter though, they picked a very succinct and specific phrase to summarize the issue. The bold pink is blatantly associated with the feminine and a great use of Metonymy.

I think this image is rather amazing, it is a pastiche of a well known Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print by Hokusai titled Great Wave Off Kanagawa, however the imagery has been very subverted. The waves are now made out of garbage - representing the negative effect mankind has on our environment, and urging for change before we get overwhelmed by this tidal wave of pollution. It is quite worrying and troublesome to look at. More specifically we can read relate these dirty trash filled waves to the fact that our oceans are now filled with plastic and garbage.

This simple poster uses the visual of a duck shooting game with cute little duck cutouts, to point out the issue of the overabundance of guns in some locations. the tagline "loose gun laws makes us all sitting ducks" really ties everything together well.

I love the use of symmetry in the above movie poster, and also the use of scale. The tiny main characters are perched atop a giant creature and the soft colors create a natural and harmonious unity which is pulled together cohesively by the organic shapes. It's quite fun yet calming to look at.

In this poster they point out that 'liking' a post about a cause or issue on facebook isn't the same as helping - the likes do nothing. This is shown very dramatically with a sick child and woman being surrounded by futile 'thumbs up' people -- they are calling for volunteers, and with such a strong use of imagery it really gets the point across quite vividly.

The above image was a poster created for the series True Blood -- they effectively used design to convey what the series is about -- red being a blatant reference for blood, and the simple use of silhouettes one of which has vampire teeth.  Very clear visuals here, what could otherwise be seen as a passionate / sex scene turned into something more sinister and the phrase "ready for seconds" is a fun play on words which can either be referring to vampires craving blood, or the passionate scene that seems to be ironically parodied in the image.

I thought the above image was rather ironic, the artist has inserted Batman, a common pop culture figure into a historical war photograph. The mixture of pop culture meets serious war theme really makes you consider your idea of what a 'hero' is.