Isaac Farley's 1st Critique
I
love the minimal approach of your poster. It gives me just enough typographic
information to be able to pick up on the message and either get interested, or
move on. I like how you're picking up on the militant language or revolution
and using some iconography that kind of connotes that same kind of language I
think that was really intelligent. I feel however that your typography doesn't
express that connotation quite enough. The typography just looks too clean if
it's supposed to be spray paint. Perhaps go more with a typeface like Captureit
or a more sophisticated version of it. Also the few places where the type or
figures drip isn't quite visible because of contrast. The white glow hides it a
little and i question if it's really giving enough communication value to keep,
I'd make them larger. The bored background also puzzled me for a moment. Am I
on a bridge? In my kitchen? I think it's a barn but it isn't red so I tell.
Maybe introducing just a little color could help it communicate better. At
first I wondered if the icons hurt the message or not, it felt like you're
trying to be nonspecific by using these icons to represent farmers
instead of real people and trying to make us empathize with them. But maybe it
works fine. Because it's in a revolutionary context it feels like the farmers
we're joining are a faceless mass of unnumbered unnamed threats waiting to make
their move or something. It almost reminds me of the Where's Kilroy
graphiti. I should also mention
briefly that I agreed with a lot of the comments made in class about the type
needing to be more askew and introducing some more green color. Just some
comments. Try it and see what works!
My Response to the 1st Critique
I agree about the board background...it is a big ambiguous. I'll try out the red background. I'll also put some more green on the figures (the straw out of the farmers mouth). The dress of the farmers wife has been really bugging me as well, so that will be lengthened. I'm not sure about changing the font, I feel it captures the feel of the posture. I'll try it out though. "Faceless mass of unnumbered unnamed threats" is a perfect way to describe it! Thanks!
Isaac Farley's 2nd
Critique
I feel like the red color really sharpened up the texture in the background and I think it works a lot better now. I may want to back peddle on the green piece of straw it would have worked against the other backdrop but here it's probably not as impactful as it could be and maybe just being white like the rest of the figure would be better. I don't know. I might be a dumb but I just realize that the white glow around the box is supposed to be the over spray from where the stencil! I didn't get that at first but now on the red I think it's more obvious, or maybe I just didn't get it! Maybe make that edge where the spray stencil was and the spray is a little more pronounced.... maybe that could reinforce the idea a little better just a thought. The paint drips are working better now and the typography is nicer. I just noticed you dropped the word war from the website name. I don't think you should back down from it. The word "war" combined with the call to "Join the revolution" works really well for me. I feel like your entire concept of the stencil paint and the verbal and visual vocabulary you're using was derived from the website name! The name was cool and to tell you the truth I'd probably visit the site just because I have an interest in the name. I really don't think you should have ditched the farmwars website but otherwise I feel like the red is a strong improvement. It's becoming more resolve! Keep working with it!
My Response to the 2nd Critique
Thanks! I keep going back and forth regarding "Farm Wars". I think it's memorable and eyecatching, but it is a loaded two words. Hmm. I'll think about it putting it back in. I agree, the red is great, but the green totally loses it's visual strength. I'll try another color. I'll work on adding more spray paint to make the spray paint effect more obvious. Thanks!!
