Design Evaluation

What I look for in a good design is something that tends to match or go along with my personality. I am someone who likes structures, boundaries, simplicity, and order. When things get too chaotic or don't quite make sense to me, I immediately dislike the design.

For this assignment, I wanted to compare two movie posters that come from the same genre: action/superhero. The two posters above, represent the opposite sides of the totem pole in my opinion. The one on the right represents me and the one on the left makes my head want to explode. I have seen neither movie and don't necessarily have a bias towards either one, which helps make this evaluation a lot more fair.

Captain America:

One of the biggest aspects of this poster that I identified right away was the contrast in colors. To take that a step further, I believe the contrast is meant to be symbolic. As you look at the top of the poster, there are dark, storm clouds over head. It creates the feeling of darkness, anger, frustration, loss of hope, etc. When you move towards the bottom of the poster, the sky's color because lighter and almost more peaceful. Maybe the background it trying to symbolize hope and a brighter future in the distance. What is nice about the contrast is that it is a subtle change from dark to light. Another aspect of contrast I like in the picture is Captain America's face. It is particularly noticeable under his eye.

One of the biggest Gestalt Principles noticed in this poster is the Law of Continuity. The most obvious example is the way the characters have aligned themselves. As you look at the poster, at least in my mind. a path has been created. Two imaginary lines take the eyes of the viewer down the path, between the characters. To take that a step further, I believe it ties into the contrast concept mentioned in the previous paragraph. The path starts in the darker contrast and then moves towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

Another Gestalt Principle that I noticed but is very obvious is the Law of Similarity. I naturally group the text on this poster according to their font size and style of font. For example, all the actors at the top of the page are bunched together in a skinny rectangle because they are all the same if you will.

The third Gestalt Principle is the Law of Closure. The way the characters are aligned forms an almost arrow in the blank space between the characters. My eyes automatically create that shape, even if that was not the intention of the individual who created the poster.

The final Gestalt Principle identified in the Captain America poster is the law of Pragnanz or the idea of having simplicity. The colors in the poster seems to be similar hues. The main objects are simply the characters themselves. There is nothing that occupies or draws attention to the viewer besides those two things.

Suicide Squad:

I don't necessarily know where to start on the movie poster for Suicide Squad. Like I mentioned in the opening paragraphs, the design concept of this poster does not work for me. It essentially has more chaos than what I am comfortable dealing with. My eyes get tired and strained because they are constantly trying to find starting point for which I can look at the picture and begin my evaluation of the image. For all I know, this was the intention the designer of the poster wanted to portray because it could be a representation of the movie itself and how unorthodox it may be.

From a design perspective, the colors in this poster aren't necessarily working for me. I know the overarching color scheme is this light and soft purple and green mixture. What throws me for a loop is the addition of brown, red, blue, etc. scattered throughout the image, offering up conflict among the colors.

When I seek to identify Gestalt Principles within the image of the poster, it takes some serious concentration to identify them. More concentration than I think should be required. For example, I can see the law of similarity with the airplanes at the top right of the mushroom cloud and there are eye balls on the top left but this doesn't mean that the attempt to display the principles was a job well done. I don't know if this image would be considered the Law of Pragnanz. I'm guessing that if you are hesitant about noticing the simplicity of an image, it more than likely doesn't fall within that category. The only simple thing about the image is the overall shape of the mushroom cloud.

I am having a hard time identifying the contrast in the image. There is no big distinction between opposites when it comes to color unlike the poster for Captain America.

In summation of the two posters, I enjoyed the design concept(s) for Captain America on this print medium. The designer wanted to send a distinct message by using the right colors and the alignment of the movie characters, unlike Suicide Squad.