Good Design, Bad Design

• This flyer's designer did not understand the Gestalt principle of Continuity. Items have been spewed out onto the page in no pattern or hierarchy and are difficult for the eye to follow.
• Graphics are distracting and hold no meaning for the audience.
• No appeal towards a target audience.

• Continuity: text follows the line of the body vertically.
• The law of closure fills in the face that has been blocked out by the main text. This drives the audience's focus to the t-shirt.
• Use of graphic instead of live picture works well in this design because the face has been lettered over and blocked out, a technique for shifting the audiences attention that would not work as well with a live subject. (law of pragnanz)
• concise and organized delivery of pertinent information.
• The flyer is designed toward a target audience: younger men. (strong connection to context)
• color scheme is mellow/not distracting although it does not match the attention-grabbing face on the t-shirt or the bold font used. This provides a small contrast.

Contrast

I chose the fifth picture in the Canam feature titled "Finish" to illustrate principles of contrast. in the foreground of this picture the open mouth of a dog is out of focus in the upper left-hand corner. in the background (and in focus), there is a bright red fence dividing the picture horizontally with two children standing behind it bundled up in snow gear, apparently watching the race. The most jarringly obvious contrast in this picture are the children right next to the open mouth of the dog. The dog's sharp teeth are in sharp contrast to the children. This could have many out-of-context meanings. If the viewer didn't know the picture was taken at a dog-sled race, the picture could easily be interpreted as a depiction of good vs. evil, predator and prey, or something along those lines. especially because the dog's toothy mouth is seen as looming over the children. Aside from that contrast, one thing that makes this picture jump out is the color. Especially the bright red fence, the blue of the dog harness, and the children's snow suits against the white snow, dull house, the blue of the shadows and sky, and the muted colors of the dog's coat. Size is also a key principle in the picture's contrast because the dog's mouth is so much bigger than the children. The texture of the dog's fur is blurred so it is not key to the picture, and shape is not emphasized, but positioning of the dog's mouth above the children creates much of the picture's contrast and tension. I would say that color, size, and positioning are the three most important aspects of this picture.