Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Coxed.

I'm really pleased that you're able to join me for this lesson today.

Let's take a look at what we'll be learning.

This lesson is called Features of a poster, and it's the first lesson from the unit Clear messaging in digital media.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to identify the features of a poster.

You'll be able to think carefully about what makes good features of a poster and how we can make them effective.

It might be the first time you thought deeply about the features of a poster, but I'll be here to help you along the way.

Let's take a look at the keywords for today.

Font: the design style of characters used for text.

Poster: a visual product usually displayed on a wall to communicate a message.

Annotation: an explanation, note, or comment that is added to text, images, or diagrams. Let's take a look at the lesson outline.

So we're gonna first start by looking at communicating with clarity.

Then we're gonna move on to looking at the features of a poster.

Let's take a look at communicating with clarity.

Which image do you think shows the best poster, A or B? Pause the video if you need some time to have a think.

It is of course poster B.

B is easy to read, and A is hard to read.

So we're gonna take a look at what design features make posters easy or hard to read, and how our messages can be communicated clearly.

To clearly get a message across to viewers, posters and signs should avoid having too much text and too many images.

Pictures and text must be carefully selected in both signs and posters to ensure they clearly communicate the message.

Let's take a look at this sign.

It has clear, simple text and font.

Has a simple shape and style.

But what is used to make the sign stand out? It has careful use of colours.

Posters and signs should be easy to read and they should avoid having too many details.

This can be distracting for viewers.

Keep it simple.

Let's have a little check for understanding.

True or false? Posters and signs should contain lots of text information.

Remember, you can pause the video if you need to.

It is of course false.

But why? To make posters and signs easy to read, it should contain the least amount of text as possible.

Poor graphical design can make signs and posters hard to read and can also be dangerous.

The signs below are poorly designed.

Let's take a look.

The first one has too much text and it has a bad choice of colour.

It's hard to read the text against the background.

The next one has no border to the shape.

This might make it hard to spot.

The third one has an unsuitable colour.

We associate green with safety and red with danger.

This is the opposite of what the sign is trying to communicate.

Which would be the most suitable for a danger sign? Let's take a look at a few examples.

A, B, or C.

Pause the video and have a think.

It's of course C.

Why? Well, the first one is text is hard to read.

Design B has too much text and doesn't make good use of colour.

Design C is easy to read and uses a simple font.

It also has a border to make it stand out and makes good use of colour.

Remember, we associate red with danger.

Let's have a go at practise task A.

Question one: what message is this sign communicating? Remember, you can pause the video at any point if you need to.

Question two: how has this sign been designed to communicate its message? Question three: design a sign that reminds people to walk on the left side of corridors and paths.

Remember to use good design to communicate the message clearly.

Question four: explain how your sign communicates its message.

Justify the choices you make for the shape, the colours, the text, and the border.

Let's take a look at the answers to task A.

Question one: what message is this sign communicating? Well, it is of course a one-way sign, so the sign clearly shows that you need to follow a one-way system.

The arrow points in the direction to follow.

It's really easy to follow the sign.

Well done if you got that right.

Question two: how has the sign been designed to communicate its message? Well, the sign uses minimal text, has bright contrasting colours and a simple shape to get the message across to the viewer.

A border helps to make the sign stand out.

Well done if you got that right.

Question three: design a sign that reminds people to walk on the left side of corridors and paths.

Remember to use good design to communicate the message clearly.

What did you design? Well, here's an example.

Yours might look very different to this, and that's okay.

Question four: explain how your sign communicates its message.

Justify the choices you made for the shape, colours, text, and border.

So let's take a look at what Jun did.

So Jun used a simple square shape with a dark border to frame the sign and make it easy to spot on the wall.

The left arrow is green, and the right arrow is red to communicate the correct side to walk on.

The white text is simple and contrasts well with the blue background.

What did you put? Well done for answering those questions.

So hopefully you managed to get a really good sign and communicate your message across clearly.

Okay, let's move on to identifying the features of a poster.

So adding comments and explanations to a diagram, text, or image is known as annotation.

Here's an example.

Let's take a look at the sign that we made in the previous questions.

A large green arrow makes it clear that the reader needs to keep left.

A small red arrow pointing the other way shows people might be walking on the right.

A dark border and light blue background are used to frame the sign.

The text font is simple, and the white colour contrasts with the blue.

Annotation can be used to communicate our thoughts and ideas on a piece of work.

In this case, we've used it to show our thoughts on a sign, but it could be used in many different contexts.

A poster is designed to visually communicate a message.

There are no set rules when designing posters, but here are a few features you may wish to include.

A main title to grab the viewer's attention.

A key message that you want to communicate.

A simple text font that's easy to read.

A graphic or image.

An appropriate colour scheme.

Note that posters do not necessarily need all these features to communicate a message, but they are things to consider.

Annotation is used to explain the features of a poster.

Let's take a look at this example.

So we can put down that the title is clear, in a good position, and not too long.

The image is relevant and of good quality.

The key message is easy to read and not too long.

Text fonts are simple, and the text colour contrasts well with the background.

The layout is clear and uncluttered.

Okay, here's a question for you to have a think about.

Why would somebody annotate a piece of work? Is it A, to make it look colourful and attractive? B, to fill in any blank spaces? C, to communicate their thoughts and ideas? Have a go.

What do you think? It's of course C.

Well done if you got that correct.

Here's another question.

Posters and signs should always contain both text and images.

Is that true or false? Have a go.

It is of course false.

So well done if you got that answer correct.

But why is this? Well, the style of design in posters can be very different.

As long as the message is clearly communicated, there's no rule saying that both text and images should be used.

Okay, well done for making it this far in the lesson.

We're onto task B, which is the final task of the lesson.

Let's take a look at the questions.

Choose one of the example posters and annotate it to explain the key points of its design.

You can choose the first one or the second one, or you can choose your own if you've got access to one, but aim to add four to five annotations to the example poster.

You may wish to comment on the colour scheme, the text font and colour, the graphical style, the layout, and the clarity of the key message.

Question two: consider the poster you annotated.

Explain whether or not you think the poster communicates its message clearly.

Give reasons to support your answer.

Part B: explain how you would improve the poster.

Well done for answering the questions.

Let's take a look at some answers.

So for the first question, you had to choose one of the example posters or your own and explain the key points of its design using annotation.

What annotations did you make? Well, Laura, she annotated to explain the text, the colour scheme, and the layout of the poster.

How did you find the process of annotation? Well, Jun, he used annotation to help him communicate and structure his thoughts.

Question two: consider the poster you annotated.

Explain whether or not you think the poster communicates its message clearly.

Give reasons to support your answer.

Well, Laura, she put that her poster was really well designed.

It used clear text and images to get the message across.

It would also be easy to see from a distance.

What did you put? Part B: explain how you would improve your poster that you annotated.

Well, for Jun, his poster had way too much text, and to improve it, he would use less text and make the font size bigger so that it's easier to read.

You may have made different comments and suggestions, and that's absolutely fine.

Remember, it's your own work and it's unique to you.

Well done.

You've done a fantastic job this lesson, and we're nearly there.

Let's just take a look at the summary of today's lesson.

A poster should avoid too much detail and clearly get a message across to the viewer.

Colours and fonts should be chosen carefully and ensure any text is easy to read.

Annotation can be used to add comments and explain ideas and thoughts.

Well done.

You've done a brilliant job this lesson, and I can't wait to see you in the next lessons.