01Order of reading
Hierarchy
How a poster decides what is read first, second and last, and how much contrast that decision needs.
- Squint at the work: what survives?
- Count the distinct levels of information.
- Which level could be removed without loss?
11 lessons
Learn
One idea at a time, tested against real award-winning work rather than theory.
02Letterform and setting
Typography
Typeface choice, measure, spacing and the moment type becomes the image.
- Is the typeface doing work, or just carrying words?
- Where does tracking change, and why?
03Placement and tension
Composition
Grid, axis, asymmetry, edge relationships and how a format is divided.
- Draw the underlying structure in five lines.
- What is the strongest edge?
04Palette behaviour
Color
How few colours can carry a poster, and what a single accent is asked to do.
- Reduce to two colours — what breaks?
- Which colour is structural, not decorative?
05Photography, drawing, render
Image making
Building an original image rather than sourcing one.
- How was this image produced?
- What did production choose to leave rough?
06The idea before the craft
Concept
The argument a poster makes, and how form is chosen to serve it.
- State the idea in one sentence.
- Would the idea survive a different style?
07Subtraction
Restraint
Work that earns attention by removing, not adding.
- What is the element count?
- What does emptiness signal here?
08Abundance with order
Maximalism
Dense work that still reads, and the hidden systems that make it possible.
- Find the repeated unit.
- Where does the eye rest?
09Theatre, film, museum, festival
Cultural poster
The authorial tradition where the poster is itself the cultural object.
- How much does it withhold?
- What does the institution gain from ambiguity?
10Nightlife information design
Music and event flyer
Small format, hard constraints, subcultural signalling and speed of reading.
- What must be legible at arm's length?
- Which codes signal the scene?
11Brief, brand and constraint
Commercial poster
Design that must persuade while surviving brand systems and legal copy.
- Where did the constraint improve the work?
- How is the brand held without shouting?