The Error in design.

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Now on to today's rant!

As a long time enthusiast in design, I have learned a lot in my life, and am very eager to learn much more. But what really bothers me is when people call themselves "designers" or think they are good at what they do, when in reality they really aren't. For example. We got some posters printed for the bar for some upcoming events. Sure, they look decent at first glance, but upon closer inspection, i realized a lot of things. The person that 'designed' these things is just as clueless as most other 'designers' when it comes to the power of simplicity, and the ultimate power of type. Sure the posters are pretty and flowy and blah blah blah, but really, does anyone notice them? No. they SEE them, they LOOK at them, but in the end maybe 50% of people actually READ them, or catch their meaning. Why? Because they look like just a piece of cluttered artwork on the wall. The 'designer' has concerned themselves more with the overall look of the poster, as opposed to focusing on the purpose at hand, which is informing people of an upcoming event or promotion. The typefaces chosen are awful, and blend in with the rest of the design, and the whole vehicle just doesn't work.

Then, as you walk closer to it, you see that the picture this person chose to use was just a very small, low resolution picture, that they decided to blow up. So sure, from a distance it looks fine, but if you look at it from 3 feet away, it's blurry, fuzzy and pixelated...what 'designer' does that!? I mean, being oblivious to what typefaces convey which emotions is ONE thing, but not even taking the time to use a proper photo? That's just purely unprofessional and lazy.

Now, i am NOT saying that I am the world's best designer. I do not have my diploma yet. I am still a student. BUT i can, and will say that I recognize what good design is, and am quite adept at creating good design, specifically at using typography in my designs. for example. I designed 2 posters whose purpose was to simply sell drinks. What did i do? I didn't take a stock photo picture of some slutty broad and throw "Try a whiskey bomb" in the corner somewhere....why? because drunk dudes would have just stared at her tits and moved on, and chicks wouldn't have even acknowledged it. What did i do instead? I made it a purely Typographical poster that simply said "Try a Whiskey Bomb RIGHT NOW" I used a typeface that caught peoples' attention, and made them want to buy it. And guess what. It worked. I made another poster with 10 different types of shots on it....i gave each shot it's own personal attitude and personality using type, and made the layout very VERY simple. And guess what. It worked.

Now how is it that a design student can make posters that WORK, and someone that is a professional Designer can make such travesties like they have been? I mean, if you're putting a poster up INSIDE the bar, why are you making the name of the bar the main focus? You take a GIANT picture of a slutty broad, a couple big stock photo guitars, and make the title HUGE, then in little letters mixed in with everything else, you put "$3 whiskey, $13 pitchers"...the main focus of the poster gets completely lost in the mix, and nobody notices. it just becomes background noise, and that's it. It's very obvious to me that this person takes the "Sex sells" concept way too literally. it's very simple. Say what you want to say. Say it clearly, say it creatively, say it in a good looking way. Done. Everything else is just noise.

I guess that's my rant for the day. Oh, one more thing. if anyone reading this does any, ANY sort of work with typefaces or 'fonts', please...PLEASE stop using Comic Sans font. Have some respect for yourselves ;)