Football Poster
mbennett2 (425 points) | Tue, 2008-09-02 17:40This is a poster for a local high school football team's upcoming season. The poster has already been printed and while I feel there are some things I would have liked to have seen done differently, such is life designing in the real world.
Critiques and lavish praise are equally welcomed...
Commenting on this Image is closed.
in general, i like it very much (tho i can't see the original, shows up as page not found).
my only real criticism would be that the stroke on the two headlines is too heavy. it starts to obscure the serifs. i'm not a fan of them in general, but they have their place. just lighten them up enough that they don't overwhelm the fills. maybe put them behind the fill instead of stroking the filled letters.
I am not sure why the original is not showing up. Here is a link to a slightly larger version:
http://www.bennettdesigns.net/clients/CW%20Poster.jpg
The stroke is an outside stroke, but I see your point. One of those things I would have done differently. I had it originally in a lighter color for the font. I also HATE using bevel & emboss. Yuk. Not too horrible in this application though.
yeah, couldn't really see the bevel/emboss that well in the little one. it has some usefulness and a place, but overuse has made us all gunshy.
one thing i've found is that if you need to stroke text, it's really better to stroke a copy and send it to the back. that way the corners of the stroke don't fudge up the corners of the type (especially if you have serifs).
In order to make sure your strokes stay on the outside of the shape, make a duplicate of the object, paste in back and apply the stroke only to that object, not the original. The original doesn't lose any integrity.
----
Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"
----
Dirt and Rust
If it were up to me, there wouldn't be a stroke on any of the type. Especially on Trajan.
Doing it the way I described would have helped, though.
----
Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"
----
Dirt and Rust
Honestly, I am not sure I agree with you guys on this one.
Here is a link to a test image:
http://www.bennettdesigns.net/clients/StrokeTest.jpg
One was done by adding a stroke set to "outside" using layer effects and one was done using your method. I don't see a difference.
Having said that, the method you are describing is my standard way of working with strokes in Illustrator, but not in Photoshop.
you know, you're right. i'm guessing there are some differences in how PS applies the strokes. makes me wonder if it wouldn't make more sense to build the type in IL and then place it as a vector or smart object, first.
i'mma have to play with this more later when i'm not as swamped.
I work with Illustrator type in Photoshop quite a bit. I just feel like Illustrator gives me more control than any other program. Once I get my type right,I drag it to PS and do what I need to, which is generally as little as I can get away with...
I never said use "outside". I said make a duplicate/paste in back/and then apply a normal stroke, slightly larger than you normally would, because it's covered by the object. This way it forces the stroke to only be visible outside without using that stroke selection.
And I don't usually do my strokes in photoshop if I can help it. Just keep it all in illustrator and bring it over as needed.
----
Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"
----
Dirt and Rust
That is exactly how it was done in the test example I provided. One of the images is a 7 point stroke done in a layer style and set to "outside", and the other is done usinge the method you are describing. The point being that setting a stroke to "outside" in photoshop yields the exact same result.
I never use outside stroke to do what I'm describing.
----
Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"
----
Dirt and Rust
I realize that. Never said you do. Simply saying that an outside stroke in this case yields the same result, as shown in the example.
You seem to have an incredible need to be right. I am well versed in Illustrator and Photoshop and am well aware of the method you have described. I use it all the time. Bottom line is that it indeed would not have helped in this case, as shown in the previously cited example. That, quite simply, is the point I am trying to make.
Nah, I just have an incredible need to be understood. Sorry for the hassle.
----
Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"
----
Dirt and Rust
Five things bother me, but other than that I like it.
1.The bird in the corner. It looks really out of place.
2. The white stroking. White doesn't really fit in with the rest. It would also be better if it was blended.
3. The "Legend" type logo reminds me of the movie "I am Legend". Google it, it's done the same way. Makes me think this is a movie poster.
4. Eagles 08 is not centered under Legend. Looks weird.
5. The cyan in the picture of the players. If you are having a antique/sepia tone background, the bluish white looks strange. Just lower the cyan levels.
------------
My Portfolio
1. You mean the 40 foot condor? Agreed.
2. Agreed. Their colors are maroon and gold. I originally had this text in gold (not bling-bling gold, but similar to the "eagles 08") with some subtle treatment. Got axed.
3. That is exactly what is supposed to look like. Its the theme of the poster. Not to get too into it, but that concept got sidetracked by the committee system and the poster ended up here. Too many cooks...
4. I see that, but I checked my file and it wasn't like that on the poster. I must have moved that layer when I was making the jpg to post here? Dunno.
5. I am only seeing that in one of the players in the back. About 90% of these players were shot in one photo and some weren't there on that day, so I had to try to patch them in and match lighting and all that. Unfortunately, the player with the darkest skin tone also had the most poorly lighted photo. They actually took the picture under a shade tree while all the rest were taken in bright sunlight. Nightmare. Anyhow, it isn't that great of a difference on paper. Maybe the RGB conversion is highlighting more than it shows in CMYK.
Thanks for the reply. Just to make it clear. This is printed and out the door.
The kerning beween the L and the E in legend could have been slightly tightened up, and I would have considered placing some cast shadows beneath/around the players so they didn't look as pasted in.
Overall, pretty impressive for a high school team. I like the rubble of the stadium in behind to move along the aspect of Last Team Standing and the distortion of the logo as a floor base. Smart.
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Good points both. Thanks for commenting. These posters really are a step up from what the teams around here are used to. They really stand out next to the norm.
I am almost done with the program now. 92 pages, full color covers, black and white guts. The guts get printed and then the covers are personalized for each home football game and stitched to the inside pages.
may i ask where you got the background? lights, stadium, etc. I'm looking for something similar for a current project and can't seem to find a portrait background like that...