Poster Design


Exploring the potential of posters as visual communication.

Skills: Art Direction, Illustration, Design
Tools: Procreate, Photoshop, Illustrator
Timeline: 6 Weeks

This project explores the potential of posters as visual communication and was an opportunity to hone my creative, conceptual, and visual problem solving skills.  Over a six week period I applied the principles of form, color, and composition to create posters that cut through the visual noise that surrounds us,  attract the viewer's attention, and convey necessary information. 

The above poster, Sun Bleached Steer Skull, is based word-for-word on a random craigslist ad. I had no idea people sold such weird stuff on craigslist.








Just Beyond Yourself
The Vienna Secession was an art movement that began in 1897 in Vienna, Austria.  Conservatism, in the eyes of the founders, had long stifled the forward progress of art and culture. A progressive and forward-thinking approach to art and art making, the Vienna Secession pushed beyond the classic notions of what art and design should be. 

I wanted to reference this history when re-designing this poster for a seminar about pushing beyond yourself to find power, peace and contentment.






Gig Poster
There is a sense of longing in both Neil’s music and his lyrics. Whether it is love, freedom, independence, or a connection to nature, these ideals are simultaneously present and elusive in his songs. His music is both quiet and loud at the same time. For this fictional gig poster I wanted to bring these dualities to life through collage and layering of sepia-toned images rooted in the American West. I wanted the poster to look like Neil’s art sounds. How I would have loved to have seen this performance. 





Pet Peeve Propaganda
Using the visual language of 40’s era propaganda posters, I created a  poster designed to curtail behavior that —let’s face it — whether we are at home or in the office, we all find extremely annoying.









© 2020 Adam Smith