A bit incongruous to see Herb Lubalin (typo in his name) in a Futurist/Bauhaus inspired layout and Swiss type. There are a lot of things going on in terms of references--nothing wrong with that, you could have more fun with it though.
The composition looks a bit static to me, everything is too symmetrical, try doing more with the negative space and introduce an asymmetry that you have to balance.
If you're looking for designers who riffed on these historical visual ideas, Peter Saville is worth looking at.
isnt he named herbert shortended for herb? also yeah i used the reference cuz i wanna learn swiss style since i am quite fond of it, also for swiss style maybe im seeing wrong references but it seems pretty symetrical in the compositions its very slick and stylish and basic, but thanks for the feedback im gonna playa round with the composition now :D
Oh yeah, he is Herb but it's Lubalin with an n not an m.
Incongruous because Lubalin's work is expressive, brash, playful-- things I don't associate with Swiss inspired design. But nothing wrong with that, just as long as your intention with it is clear.
I’ll mention it because I haven’t seen it in other comments, but I would consider the fact that red, white and black do not usually pair well with diagonal straight line designs. Looks a bit too nazi germany, some people might get the wrong idea about what you’re trying to say
i didnt really make that concection, but personally this is my favorite colours and colour combo so i use it in all my designs, never had anyone mention it till now
If you use black red and white all the time, you will be missing out on opportunities to learn how to work and play with color. Also, these colors will not always be the best solution for every design.
Like other elements of design, you generally need to have a reason why you’re using the colors selected.
I love the combo of red black and white. But at some point your professor will notice it.
Also, think of when you put a portfolio together for the job search. If all your designs are using the same color palette, the person looking at it may see it as a lack of variety and think you lack the ability to design with other colors.
Sorry in advance for the harsh critique, but you have time left before presenting. I’m assuming good faith and an accident, not a dog whistle.
Crisp. Like a BMW logo or a Hugo Boss trench coat. If you present this as-is your professor is going to say the same thing all of us heard/said when receiving/giving critiques: context and associations matter. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t your intention, or that Swiss style was co-opted. The first association I (and two other commenters so far) had was all I can see. On a memorial piece for an American Jew whose early career was during WWII. Dynamic yet simple or not, there’s just some stuff we cannot use.
Aside from needing to fix the association bit: It’s my favorite font! You picked a great subject. Spelling and capitalization count. The man was colorblind: you picked a color that would have looked like mud to him. Try the dichromatic filters in Illustrator and try some different colors out. And yes, bigger font on the small text, perhaps fill align instead of align left. If you killed the lines that start at the L and the T, connected the font with the lines at the H and what should be an N, got rid of birth/death as being so much more worthy of huge font than his actual accomplishments, did a color that a dichromatic designer would see as vivid, came up with something to replace the arms, I think you’re rocking.
Just an idea, but I was wandering why you don‘t play with typography. If you look into Lubalin‘s work, you see a very playful usage of typography. I don’t get the reference to Swiss Design. Is there any connection I‘ve might missed?
Besides of all that’s said, you might put a bit love and detail into your typography (regarding to spacing, paragraph layout etc). Good luck and have fun!
mostly because i lack ambition and i dont believe i can replicate his work, also i used swiss style cuz i like it, the assigment entails i make a 3000 word doc on his life and biography then use that text howerver i want in a poster A3, since its free for me to choose i chose this style with my fav colours, altough rn im playing with the styles, i decided to make the 1900s bigger and it looks a bit better
You should really step out of your comfort zone. The difference between an amateur and a professional is that the professional puts reasoning and experience behind their work, the rest just say "I like it this way"
That's a lot of small type and looks very dense. If you can, whittle down the verbiage, and add more visual rest to what's left, using increased leading and letterspacing. I'd also recommend throwing in something that's not on the diagonal, and maybe play with breaking the red corners into analagous colors to lighten up the severity.
Oh oh 🙋♀️
✨Are all your lovely accent lines the same weight, the white one at the top looks slightly heavier?
✨Maybe try to type set your copy into some nice crisp boxes to carry on those lovey sharp lines
✨ A nice royal blue would be a quick fix to your… ehem… ‘nazi problem’
Really lovely, great work 🙌✨
this is Soviet constructivism- pre world war 1 until the 30s- a different era. The Swiss Style came into prominence in the late 50s early 60s and continued into the 70s. If you want to be factual and accurate you really need to dig into your history and examine what is going on and why. The diagonals is a hallmark of the Soviet style.. Swiss Style is defined by a well organized grid. Horizontal and perpendicular columns and plenty of white space and contrast in type size. Also if you want to really do something accurate to the time period of Herb Lubalin you would hand draw and ink and use gouache the type with rules hand drawn with a ruler. If you went to the Bauhaus show at the MoMa or really looked at photos of that period none of it was done on a computer obviously so the real lesson would be coming to terms with using hand tools and using photographic methods as a way to integrate typographic illustrations. Just knocking out these looks with a computer is not really examining the history and is a real superficial way to gloss over the work as a style and not an in depth pursuit of seeking innovation with the means of the era.
This takes me back to my first design task in college which was basically the same task that I had to do.
I think your page composition looks great. I’d maybe make the text in the paragraphs just a little bit bigger and I’d left align it to the title (maybe aligned to the L in Lubalim) rather than centering it.
I don’t personally make the connection that others are making in regard to the colours. But I would experiment with adding a few different shades of the red perhaps. Maybe change 1981 to a slightly lighter but legible red? Just a preference though.
I see, i tried doing that but it just doesen't look very good, the references i used u could barely tell the fonts, theybm just looksled like illegiblle letters or lines of some sort, thats cuz the font is intended to be small in those compositions i think, but i can play around a bit more with it
Part of learning about design is also learning about history. I suggest catching up, because if you want to stick with using your favourite colors in this way, some clients might have issues with your designs.
Is this the only visual for the assignment? If everything is going to be this way I understand why you did this. If this is the only visual and you can do anything you want I would at least look into working avant- garde gothic in somehow
The subliminal swastika is disturbing; the color choices reinforce it. The pleasing symmetry is undermined by the wider white box. The bigger issue is that the space is wasted with the tiny text. It’s better to make the important elements more prominent. Maybe begin with the text blocks and let their shapes do more. An arresting composition nonetheless.
In addition to the other comments, I thin you can work with the composition a bit. Everything feels squished in the center and the text should be resized (bigger) better in my opinion.
I think you should try extending the brown and white rectangles off the page. Immediately to me it looked like a mockup of a poster, not an actual poster. Extending the shapes will also create more white space. The diagonal text is interesting but not really functional. Otherwise I don't hate the type. While I don't love the colors, I think that's a personal choice. All in all not too bad! Have some confidence!
Lots of great feedback already! What I haven’t seen so far: Chronological order from left (oldest) to right (newest), at least in western society. This would mean that 1981 and 1918 have to change places.
Are there any graphic design degrees/courses/diplomas/certificates that don’t require students to make a poster of a famous font/famous designer as one of their projects?
Command+A - scale up. You dont need this space around it. Make it as big as you can. Change the black to a very very near black red. Is there an other year you could use so it's not doubled? maybe something from year - to year. .. first thoughts
1918 is hard to read due to lack of contrast. Either:
1. Font color white. Readability > having separate colors
2. Play with widening the nearest white line, so it can be used as a background. It can balance out the negative red space in the lower portion.
Love Swiss style, it’s so refreshing and clean in contrast to a lot of the graphic styling we see every day today.
Breaking up the white space (red space in this instance) could help introduce more visual complexity to your design and maybe also reduce the 1930s vibes in the process. Right now, particularly if you were to view this at poster size standing at a distance, it is somewhat graphically reminiscent of a swastika, particularly paired with the colors you’ve chosen for this design.
In the words of one of my favorite profs: “Design is about making and breaking the grid.“ Maybe you could break your grid up a bit more? I enjoy your use of lines and I think the varieties in thicknesses are visually engaging. They help draw the eye around the page, which is a super important aspect of unwritten visual communication! Increasing the type size, and breaking up the blocks of text could help with legibility and readability too, since some of those larger blocks may feel a bit long to some viewers/readers.
Outside of that, great work! Asking for and receiving feedback is arguably one of the most important ways to grow as a designer, but I would encourage you to be intentional in what feedback you choose apply to your work. This project looks quite familiar to me — are you studying your program in a blue and pink funky-shaped building in the midwest US? haha
Nice feedback ill def try to play around my composition, thanks! Im still in my first year and not as talented as my peers, so im def not good but feedback is something important so ill keep at it, also nope im not from US inlive in europe sadly
Though I am sure you have heard many times, I’ll tell you again based on my own personal experiences: do NOT compare yourself to your peers in terms of talent! It won’t help you grow. Consider that everyone has their own style and vision and your specific eye is what gives you your power as a designer. Work on honing your skills, focusing on projects and designers that inspire you, and dedicating the time to extra reading and practice when you can. Design school is exhausting and a LOT of time and labor, so don’t beat yourself up too much — that’s your prof’s job 🫠🤣
A bit incongruous to see Herb Lubalin (typo in his name) in a Futurist/Bauhaus inspired layout and Swiss type. There are a lot of things going on in terms of references--nothing wrong with that, you could have more fun with it though. The composition looks a bit static to me, everything is too symmetrical, try doing more with the negative space and introduce an asymmetry that you have to balance. If you're looking for designers who riffed on these historical visual ideas, Peter Saville is worth looking at.
isnt he named herbert shortended for herb? also yeah i used the reference cuz i wanna learn swiss style since i am quite fond of it, also for swiss style maybe im seeing wrong references but it seems pretty symetrical in the compositions its very slick and stylish and basic, but thanks for the feedback im gonna playa round with the composition now :D
Oh yeah, he is Herb but it's Lubalin with an n not an m. Incongruous because Lubalin's work is expressive, brash, playful-- things I don't associate with Swiss inspired design. But nothing wrong with that, just as long as your intention with it is clear.
oh i totally missed that, thanks
I’ll mention it because I haven’t seen it in other comments, but I would consider the fact that red, white and black do not usually pair well with diagonal straight line designs. Looks a bit too nazi germany, some people might get the wrong idea about what you’re trying to say
I was about to say this looks oddly 1930s… then I realised why
Actually the Nazis would have hated this because it is way too Bauhaus. So go for it!
A warm red would be more in keeping
Came here to say this
i didnt really make that concection, but personally this is my favorite colours and colour combo so i use it in all my designs, never had anyone mention it till now
You use that color combo in all your designs? I think you should experiment with other colors and color combos
I do its just my fav
If you use black red and white all the time, you will be missing out on opportunities to learn how to work and play with color. Also, these colors will not always be the best solution for every design. Like other elements of design, you generally need to have a reason why you’re using the colors selected. I love the combo of red black and white. But at some point your professor will notice it. Also, think of when you put a portfolio together for the job search. If all your designs are using the same color palette, the person looking at it may see it as a lack of variety and think you lack the ability to design with other colors.
One of my professors taught a color theory class called "Beyond Red, Black, and White"
Wish I could have had that class! I’d be interested in it today lol.
Yeah thats fair
You've got to do things out of your comfort zone.
well...we are telling you now.
Honestly, I'd really question your political orientation, if your came into my office with that!
Red, black, white... you even got the angle right. lol
?
German flag circa 1940
Sorry in advance for the harsh critique, but you have time left before presenting. I’m assuming good faith and an accident, not a dog whistle. Crisp. Like a BMW logo or a Hugo Boss trench coat. If you present this as-is your professor is going to say the same thing all of us heard/said when receiving/giving critiques: context and associations matter. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t your intention, or that Swiss style was co-opted. The first association I (and two other commenters so far) had was all I can see. On a memorial piece for an American Jew whose early career was during WWII. Dynamic yet simple or not, there’s just some stuff we cannot use. Aside from needing to fix the association bit: It’s my favorite font! You picked a great subject. Spelling and capitalization count. The man was colorblind: you picked a color that would have looked like mud to him. Try the dichromatic filters in Illustrator and try some different colors out. And yes, bigger font on the small text, perhaps fill align instead of align left. If you killed the lines that start at the L and the T, connected the font with the lines at the H and what should be an N, got rid of birth/death as being so much more worthy of huge font than his actual accomplishments, did a color that a dichromatic designer would see as vivid, came up with something to replace the arms, I think you’re rocking.
Just an idea, but I was wandering why you don‘t play with typography. If you look into Lubalin‘s work, you see a very playful usage of typography. I don’t get the reference to Swiss Design. Is there any connection I‘ve might missed? Besides of all that’s said, you might put a bit love and detail into your typography (regarding to spacing, paragraph layout etc). Good luck and have fun!
mostly because i lack ambition and i dont believe i can replicate his work, also i used swiss style cuz i like it, the assigment entails i make a 3000 word doc on his life and biography then use that text howerver i want in a poster A3, since its free for me to choose i chose this style with my fav colours, altough rn im playing with the styles, i decided to make the 1900s bigger and it looks a bit better
You should really step out of your comfort zone. The difference between an amateur and a professional is that the professional puts reasoning and experience behind their work, the rest just say "I like it this way"
That's a lot of small type and looks very dense. If you can, whittle down the verbiage, and add more visual rest to what's left, using increased leading and letterspacing. I'd also recommend throwing in something that's not on the diagonal, and maybe play with breaking the red corners into analagous colors to lighten up the severity.
It's giving me more 1940s Germany
Oh oh 🙋♀️ ✨Are all your lovely accent lines the same weight, the white one at the top looks slightly heavier? ✨Maybe try to type set your copy into some nice crisp boxes to carry on those lovey sharp lines ✨ A nice royal blue would be a quick fix to your… ehem… ‘nazi problem’ Really lovely, great work 🙌✨
Love the style. Wouldnt call it swiss but more bauhaus, early (soviet) cubism or something like that.
Tiny one, maybe flip your design to look more like the main content is ascending instead of descending.
this is Soviet constructivism- pre world war 1 until the 30s- a different era. The Swiss Style came into prominence in the late 50s early 60s and continued into the 70s. If you want to be factual and accurate you really need to dig into your history and examine what is going on and why. The diagonals is a hallmark of the Soviet style.. Swiss Style is defined by a well organized grid. Horizontal and perpendicular columns and plenty of white space and contrast in type size. Also if you want to really do something accurate to the time period of Herb Lubalin you would hand draw and ink and use gouache the type with rules hand drawn with a ruler. If you went to the Bauhaus show at the MoMa or really looked at photos of that period none of it was done on a computer obviously so the real lesson would be coming to terms with using hand tools and using photographic methods as a way to integrate typographic illustrations. Just knocking out these looks with a computer is not really examining the history and is a real superficial way to gloss over the work as a style and not an in depth pursuit of seeking innovation with the means of the era.
This takes me back to my first design task in college which was basically the same task that I had to do. I think your page composition looks great. I’d maybe make the text in the paragraphs just a little bit bigger and I’d left align it to the title (maybe aligned to the L in Lubalim) rather than centering it. I don’t personally make the connection that others are making in regard to the colours. But I would experiment with adding a few different shades of the red perhaps. Maybe change 1981 to a slightly lighter but legible red? Just a preference though.
I see, i tried doing that but it just doesen't look very good, the references i used u could barely tell the fonts, theybm just looksled like illegiblle letters or lines of some sort, thats cuz the font is intended to be small in those compositions i think, but i can play around a bit more with it
Part of learning about design is also learning about history. I suggest catching up, because if you want to stick with using your favourite colors in this way, some clients might have issues with your designs.
Is this the only visual for the assignment? If everything is going to be this way I understand why you did this. If this is the only visual and you can do anything you want I would at least look into working avant- garde gothic in somehow
looks damn cool bro
What if you switched the text boxes alignment to dates rather than to the title? (I.e. in parallel to the dates)
The subliminal swastika is disturbing; the color choices reinforce it. The pleasing symmetry is undermined by the wider white box. The bigger issue is that the space is wasted with the tiny text. It’s better to make the important elements more prominent. Maybe begin with the text blocks and let their shapes do more. An arresting composition nonetheless.
I think I made the same thing in college. Do you think that anyone will read those tiny, crooked paragraphs?
Its part of the assigment
What size is the paper?
In addition to the other comments, I thin you can work with the composition a bit. Everything feels squished in the center and the text should be resized (bigger) better in my opinion.
I think you should try extending the brown and white rectangles off the page. Immediately to me it looked like a mockup of a poster, not an actual poster. Extending the shapes will also create more white space. The diagonal text is interesting but not really functional. Otherwise I don't hate the type. While I don't love the colors, I think that's a personal choice. All in all not too bad! Have some confidence!
Lots of great feedback already! What I haven’t seen so far: Chronological order from left (oldest) to right (newest), at least in western society. This would mean that 1981 and 1918 have to change places.
not a graphic designer but i think it’s very pretty and would work for a book cover more than anything else
Are there any graphic design degrees/courses/diplomas/certificates that don’t require students to make a poster of a famous font/famous designer as one of their projects?
I didn't have to when I did my undergrad!
Command+A - scale up. You dont need this space around it. Make it as big as you can. Change the black to a very very near black red. Is there an other year you could use so it's not doubled? maybe something from year - to year. .. first thoughts
1918 is hard to read due to lack of contrast. Either: 1. Font color white. Readability > having separate colors 2. Play with widening the nearest white line, so it can be used as a background. It can balance out the negative red space in the lower portion.
I think it would look cooler if the text on each side read horizontal.
Love it, I’m a huge fan of Swiss design too!
Thanks me too hah
Love Swiss style, it’s so refreshing and clean in contrast to a lot of the graphic styling we see every day today. Breaking up the white space (red space in this instance) could help introduce more visual complexity to your design and maybe also reduce the 1930s vibes in the process. Right now, particularly if you were to view this at poster size standing at a distance, it is somewhat graphically reminiscent of a swastika, particularly paired with the colors you’ve chosen for this design. In the words of one of my favorite profs: “Design is about making and breaking the grid.“ Maybe you could break your grid up a bit more? I enjoy your use of lines and I think the varieties in thicknesses are visually engaging. They help draw the eye around the page, which is a super important aspect of unwritten visual communication! Increasing the type size, and breaking up the blocks of text could help with legibility and readability too, since some of those larger blocks may feel a bit long to some viewers/readers. Outside of that, great work! Asking for and receiving feedback is arguably one of the most important ways to grow as a designer, but I would encourage you to be intentional in what feedback you choose apply to your work. This project looks quite familiar to me — are you studying your program in a blue and pink funky-shaped building in the midwest US? haha
Nice feedback ill def try to play around my composition, thanks! Im still in my first year and not as talented as my peers, so im def not good but feedback is something important so ill keep at it, also nope im not from US inlive in europe sadly
Though I am sure you have heard many times, I’ll tell you again based on my own personal experiences: do NOT compare yourself to your peers in terms of talent! It won’t help you grow. Consider that everyone has their own style and vision and your specific eye is what gives you your power as a designer. Work on honing your skills, focusing on projects and designers that inspire you, and dedicating the time to extra reading and practice when you can. Design school is exhausting and a LOT of time and labor, so don’t beat yourself up too much — that’s your prof’s job 🫠🤣
Yeah hahah, kinda hard to remind my stupid lizard brain sometimes