Poster assignment

Poster Assignment
20 points • Due: End of class

InDesign tools we have introduced so far:
• Image placement and scaling
• Creating paragraph and object styles
• Changing fonts, font sizes, adding a drop shadow
• Creating swatches, adjusting kerning

For this assignment, we'll learn these InDesign tools:
• Creating shapes
• Creating and adding a gradient
• Adjusting vertical and horizontal scale of text

And practice these principles of design:
• Contrasting, dynamic typography
• Harmony of between your elements of design
• Strong visuals through alignment and color selection
• Reinforcing the power and implications of proximity of and between elements

You'll be creating a movie poster for what is sure to be the hit of the year, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Elements you'll need to include (be as creative as you want with these):
• A moon
• Title (The Twilight Saga: New Moon)
• It stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
• That it is based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer and directed by Chris Weitz
• It opens 11-20-09

I would suggest sketching out your basic design on paper first. Your main task is to use type in a dramatic and dynamic way so it will make the movie look interesting, while communicating the facts about the movie. Your use of type will be very important since you only have one main graphic (the moon) to work with.
Other notes:
• You can use other shapes (circles, squares, lines, etc.) if you want, but no photos.
• Use at least one color besides black. Think about having your background color something other than white.
• Use at least one gradient
• Adjust the kerning and horizontal/vertical scale of some of your text


(OVER for InDesign notes)


To create a circle:
1. Click and hold the mouse button down on the "Rectangle Tool" on the left side toolbar
2. Select Ellipse
3. Click and drag to make an ellipse. Hold the shift key down to constrain it to a circle.
4. Resize it by clicking and dragging on an corner of your object's blue box.
5. To fill your shape in with a color, make sure your object is selected (it will have a blue box around it) and click on a swatch.

To create a gradient/gradient swatch:
1. Open your swatches palette.
2. Create your two colors that will make up each end of the gradient.
3. Click on the Gradient pop-up window (on the right side, near Colors and Effects)
4. You'll see two small boxes at either end of your gradient slider. Simply drag a swatch into one of these boxes. If you miss and create a third box, simply click and drag the new box out of the gradient pop-up to delete it.
5. In the top left, you'll see a larger box with sort of a preview of what your gradient looks like. Drag this box to your swatches pop-up window to create a gradient swatch. Now you have it saved (or right click and select Add to Swatches). You can double click on your new gradient swatch to edit it.
6. To see your gradient swatches, go to your swatch pop-up window and click the third small icon from the left on the bottom (it looks like a gradient).
Note: Whenever you create a new swatch or gradient, be aware if you have any object selected. It will create a new swatch or gradient based on whatever you have selected.
** Also note the angle option in the gradient pop-up. Don't just stick to the default!

Kerning, Vertical and Horizontal scale adjustments:
1. Click on the "Character" pop-up window on the right side
2. Here you have font type, style, size, leading, kerning, tracking, horizontal scale and vertical scale (and a couple other things we won't worry about)
3. Select the text you want to adjust (or in the case of kerning, just place the cursor between two letters) and adjust away! Remember:
• Kerning: Space between letters
• Tracking: Space between all the letters selected
• Leading: Space between lines (if you have one line selected, it will adjust the space above it)
• Vertical scale: How stretched the characters are up and down
• Horizontal scale: How stretched the characters are left and right

Other tips:
• To select more than one object, hold down the shift key while clicking on multiple objects.
• Use the alignment pop-up window on the right to align two or more objects to each other.
• Use the Apple Key and Minus/Plus keys together to zoom in/out. Hold space bar down to be able to move your page around.