Lesson #6: Production: creating posters

Part of the unit: Designing Environmental Awareness Posters |
Download PDF of Lesson
Download PDF of Lesson

Goals

Students will be able to:
Combine the best solutions in their sketches to create a final poster
Write objective statements about their posters
Materials
fadeless colored construction paper, glue, fonts of various sizes, magazines & newspapers, markers, pencils, design sketchbook
Resources
Charley Harper and Eric Carle images; Arthur Hawkins' Red Smoke;  Posters by James Montgomery Flagg, Ester Hernandez, andToulouse-Lautrec

Motivation & Demonstration

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Motivation: 
Show Eric Carle book covers and Charley Harper designs.
  • What is unique about these two posters?
  • What can we learn about poster design from these two artists?
Ask for a volunteer to show one of their sketches and to explain how they would change it based on what they see in these posters.
Worktime
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Work with a partner to select your favorite design based on your choice of symbol, lettering, and composition. Look to see if the other thumbnails not chosen have ideas that could be incorporated into the selected one to improve it. Suggest at least one improvement for each of the selected designs. Begin to work on your final poster by selecting the color paper for each part of your design. Do not glue anything at this time. Have posters hung around the room for inspiration.
Reflection & Assessment
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Ask students to assess their work by addressing these questions:
  • What message is being communicated to the viewer?
  • How does the choice of font relate to the message and/or design?
  • How have I created contrast between the lettering color and background/symbol?
  • How have I created contrast between the lettering style and symbol?
  • How does the image contribute to the effectiveness of the message?
  • How does color, shape, and line contribute to the success of the poster?