My design educates the viewer on all that is True Blood. The history poster delves into the fictional world of the award-winning HBO show but it also provides some insight into its real-world success. I provided a short summary of the show’s plotline along with a rundown of the awards it has received. I also included the book series, The Southern Vampire Mysteries, and the author Charlain Harris in comparison with the show producer/director and leading actors. The text is “short and sweet” and I used the non-intrusive Helvetica font for the paragraphs and used the actual logo font of True Blood for the poster title. My imagery is what is most important to the design, and I feel that the sole image is what draws in the audience as well as the bold title and highly contrasting color scheme. The white background is clean and simple, which helps to make the rest of the design “pop,” and eye-catching.
My design follows the rule of thirds using the placement of the shapes, text and image. The bold black rectangle falls on the horizontal line between the lower two thirds, which helps to ground the design. My image’s focal point, the blood-licking mouth, sits almost precisely on the intersection of the segments in the upper left-hand corner. The larger block of text lies in the lower left corner, but particularly, the portion of the text that turns to white on top of the black rectangle is at an intersection point. “True Blood” is also written to stretch the vertical length of the middle third.
My design utilizes each of the six design principals in a clean and simple manner. Emphasis is given to the title “True Blood” by making it the largest font size and placing it near the center of the design. It also is the only text to use that particular font type, making it unique and separate from the other text.
Alignment was integral to my design, as Bauhaus designs put a strong emphasis on grid designs. I used parallel and perpendicular lines to literally portray alignment, and used text to create implied lines to mimic alignment.
Contrast was another crucial part of the poster. The logos and title sequence for the show are famous for their highly contrasting images and text. Even the font the show uses for the title depicts a bold “True” and a contrastingly thin “Blood.” My color scheme is very contrasting, and I specifically changed line and text color based on the background color to create the most contrast.
My design is balanced asymmetrically. By placing the images in the upper left I had to balance it with my text in the lower right. The red of the text contrasts the mostly grey image but is not too heavy, as black would’ve weighed down the design.
Flow is an important aspect of Bauhaus designs which use line extensions to control the direction the eye looks and create movement. I accomplished that in my design by pulling particular letters in the text and adding abstract rectangles and lines. My design focal point is the title, and then flows to the lips, down the diagonal line to the text and off the page.
I used repetition in the lines of the design and the lines of my text. The text is red, which creates a repetition with the red lips, and red shapes, ultimately creating a pattern.
The roles of color in my design are very important. Not only does the show use contrasting colors, but also Bauhaus designs are famous for their contrasting color schemes. Black and white is heavily used, so I too used them as the base for my design. I then used red for a “pop” and tie in the ‘blood’ aspect of True Blood. The text was treated as a whole shape instead of individual words. I made sure the edges of the text created alignment and balanced the image.
