Introduction

When searching for a well designed ad, I wanted to find one that represented all the elements of C.R.A.P. (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity).  I came across this poster ad and immediately knew my search was over.  Kreative Fingers, an Indian designer, created this for the project ‘Signage Design job – Healthcare IT Company Needs a Core Values Poster for Office’. It was awarded 3 out of 5 stars. This is Kreative Fingers’s 17th submission to this poster design project for a business in United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contrast

There is powerful contrast in this ad.  The designer was not a wimp when creating the title, making it very large.  There is also great contrast with the orange shape pushing into the title along with the complementary blue background to the white-texted subtitle.  Those three elements go together very well and draw the eye in.  The main content also made good use of contrast by color-coding each topic, making the titles big and capitalized, and color-coding key words and phrases within the body of the test that highlight important elements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repetition

The repetition used in this ad is phenomenal!  The headers are all the same size, font, and capitalized.  Also, even though they are all different colors, the color change is repetitive (if that makes any sense!).  Within the text body the color theme repeats to highlight important points which is smart.  The lines separating the topics repeats as well as the spacing between the lines and the text.  Triangles are also repetitive as a design element and the use of the faded gray triangles creates great visual interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alignment

Alignment is the element I love the most.  Nothing bothers me more than things that are not aligned!  The headers are aligned to the left with each other, and the main text is block-aligned.  This provides great structure to this ad and also makes it obvious what needs to be read.  Even though block-alignment can sometimes make the sentences stretch out strangely, I think it works well in this ad.  If the right edge was soft it wouldn’t look as organized and the text wouldn’t seem as united.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proximity

The proximity in this ad is simple but effective.  The title and subtitle are grouped together at the top and separated from the rest of the text.  Each topic is then grouped together with several elements (spacing, color, lines).  The headers are in close proximity to the text, and the triangles containing the art design are in close proximity to the text they are associated with.  It’s very easy to quickly look at this ad and see that there are four different topics and a title.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Color

This design makes great use of primary and secondary colors.  It does not come across as childish, thanks to the shades and tone used.  The colors are also placed so that the complimentary colors are next to each other, making them look good.  The shades and tones are very well done, making the text that is colored easy to read.  The darker shades are also easier on the eye.  The combination of both warm and cool colors creates a nice balance as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

This ad incorporates all of the key design elements we have learned about and makes great use of them.  Like the lessons have said, a great design (like this one) includes contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity, and good color choice.  As demonstrated here, when the design elements are all brought together and used appropriately a creation that is pleasing to the eye and functional is developed.