Sharks or Jets?!

This poster was located on a standee in Thun between oldtown and the panorama we went to visit. I think it is mainly a Postmodern poster because it is very playful and breaks typographic rules by having the title upside down.

I think the concept of this poster is to broadcast the headline of the poster in a new way. I also think by portraying the headline as a reflection, the designer could be referring back to the geography of Thun and its location on the lake. I did not see the West Side Story poster anywhere but Thun; therefore, I think the fact that Thun is bordered by water could play a part in the design. As far as functionality, the poster seems to simply be an advertisement for the play West Side Story.

I think the imagery was probably photography, with the West Side Story reflection text added digitally.

The 55-5-5 rule is pretty relevant to this poster. At 55 feet, the size and color of the “West Side Story” text attract the viewer’s attention. At five feet, the remainder of the event information is readable. From five inches, the viewer can easily view all of the sponsors logos and information at the bottom of the poster. I think the poster is stronger at five feet or fifty-five feet however, because there are not many small details to view from five inches.

Humans seem to be naturally critical and sensitive to when things are out of place, so I think the thing that attracted me most to the poster was the bright red text printed upside down. It is a really fun poster, because at first glance I thought it was a mistake, then I figured out that the text was upside down because of the reflection. I think this is a very clever solution to making a poster that consists entirely of text fresh and attention-getting.