by Myahn Walker
It is now Voting Season! As one of the first projects for the Common Press this Fall, we made posters to encourage Voter Registration. If you would like to learn about the techniques to achieve this design, keep reading!
As the first step of the process, we took the basic information that needed to be included on the poster, such as dates and resources, and then created a rough draft of the poster layout. We made sure to include different sized elements and typefaces to make the design look interactive and fun. Afterwards, we planned for the ink colors to be red and blue on white poster paper.
The next step was to implement type into the design. We experimented with different sized wood type and metal type until we made the decision to have a giant 2018 in the background (how fun!), mismatched wood type for the main message, a pointer finger image, and then bold italic fonts such as in Rising Cost, Headline and Flash- Balto. 373 for the rest of the information. Then we set up the type for printing, including text organization and spacing.
Due to the complexity of the design (multiple colors, overlapping text, and combining wood and metal type), it was necessary to print multiple press runs. As the first layer, we set up the giant 2018 in the center of the press and applied a slightly dark red ink to print. Next, we set up the deadline to the far right of the press although it would appear on the far left due to the reverse that happens in the printing process.
After the red was completed, the press was cleaned, and a dark blue color was applied. Then we set up the mismatched type and image for the “Register to Vote Now!” portion. This was placed on the far left (again, to appear on the right) and printed on top of the other layers. Due to the fact that the blue was darker and applied later, it was more prominent than the 2018 background. Also, all of it was legible because of the different orientations of the words. The red was set up horizontally while the blue was vertical. On the last layer, we applied blue to the information about the resources and organizations on campus.
In the end, the poster turned out to be really cool and wound up resembling the American flag! I hope that this step-by-step description was helpful and provided you with insight regarding the Common Press. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment, drop by during open hours or email the studio manager, Mary Tasillo at mtasillo@upenn.edu.
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