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My Primary Research
My Primary Research
I first started my primary research by collecting data using a survey that asked questions about what features of a poster people most enjoy.
My survey included various questions and offered images of posters where the person taking the survey could show their preferences regarding Halloween films. I focused my questions on the perceptions of the viewers. I specifically chose images and posters that were similar to the ideas that I had, I used the overall preferred to gauge what kind of posters people prefer and took note of the similarities in the designs. I did eventually use this after creating my poster, comparing the similarities I had observed to my finished result. I had an idea that I wanted to create a children's poster so I ensured to ask questions relevant to the target audience, this meant asking questions such as "What was your favourite Halloween film as a child?" I asked these types of questions to capture elements of nostalgia that older audiences will like while still targeting a younger demographic.
Lastly, I wanted to know specifically what features of a Halloween poster stand out to people and what gasps a person's attention when looking at a poster. I wanted to know exactly what people look for so I could focus on these things specifically when creating my project. I also included questions based on distinguishing attributes such as typography, using images of different fonts and asking people their number one choice for a Halloween film. Once again I measured these results and used them to help me complete my designs.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIWQ26lgmQ1Kwxmv_fOqwNM1_yteIgaPvrzxhbU__1jF_LTg/viewform?usp=sf_link - The link to my survey.
Overall General Statistics
Overall General Statistics
The overall statistics provided me with a clear and broad understanding of people's preferences for Halloween-related media and their expectations. This allowed me to identify common trends and themes that would guide me in creating a poster that appeals to a wider audience.
To prepare for my poster, I asked general questions using images and multiple-choice options. One question featured two posters for the film "The Joker." The first option was an older poster with a simple design, minimal imagery, and a dark colour scheme. In contrast, the second poster was more recent, featuring a lighter colour scheme and more imagery. I chose these contrasting posters to ensure that respondents focused on the design rather than their overall preference for the film.
The results showed that 71.4% of people preferred the first option, indicating a general audience favouring darker colour schemes and simplicity.
By asking multiple questions of this kind, I gained valuable insights that reinforced my decision to use a dark colour scheme and a simple, easy-to-understand design for my poster.
Specific Answers
Specific Answers
In contrast to the general data I had collected, the more specific questions allowed respondents to provide individual insights and opinions. I knew this would be helpful for fine-tuning my poster, enabling me to incorporate elements that aligned with the preferences of my audience. This approach helped widen my target demographic.
Although these questions aimed to gather personal likes and dislikes, I was still able to identify common trends. When asking, “What is it about a poster that makes you want to watch the film?” I received mixed responses. However, I noted that most people preferred simplicity over complex designs, which was further supported by the overall statistics. People often favoured elements such as imagery and typography. These insights guided me in selecting direct and specific components to emphasize in my design.
I also included the question, “What was your favourite Halloween film as a child?” While the respondents were of varying ages, most were over 15. I aimed to create a poster that would appeal to children while also engaging a broader audience. I believed that incorporating nostalgic elements could achieve this. The majority of responses to this question were animated films, which inspired specific design choices in my project that captured the same nostalgic feeling.
My Secondary Research
My Secondary Research
My secondary research consisted of creating a board on Milanote, showing posters I felt inspired by and adding annotations as to why they inspired me and how they were created. I used multiple resources to complete this research including videos, websites, and reviews. I used reviews to help me pick the posters as they showed some of the most popular films. I purposely picked out films that have been critically acclaimed for their visuals and graphics. I tried to incorporate and compare posters of different generations, colour schemes and visuals.
This part of my research also included watching trailers and finding summaries of the films to better understand the concept and observe how it is presented as relevant in the posters and designs.
In order to complete this I also gave myself a list of things that I needed to complete so I could effectively finish my secondary research.
The list included:
analyse posters from different periods (e.g. 1981 and 2023)
Add more posters (x6)
Compare and contrast
show ideas that I liked and would consider using for my poster
Show colour pallets and schemes
Show research by adding how each poster was created (e.g. Physically, Digitally and software used if able)
Give personal perceptions
The link to my Milanote board- https://app.milanote.com/1STp3T1XNcdJbX?p=hTXLiX750pF
The website I used for finding reviews- https://www.rottentomatoes.com/
This video, like many others I watched helped me understand some of the visuals and typography used on the poster as it helped to provide context.
I found that hiding context clues within the poster often helped to promote the poster to the correct target audience, while also adding a sense of mystery which can intrigue viewers and promote the film.
Researching these posters helped me to find my own preferences and gave me a chance to collect inspiration. I used different posters from different times with contrasting elements, this allowed me to understand what makes a poster intriguing. I tried to focus this research on the poster as a whole and after completing it I had many ideas about how I could make my own poster. reviewing the posters provoked me to want a darker colour scheme for my design. I realised that I did not like extremely complex designs and instead preferred simple visuals that stayed relevant to the themes and genre. Overall, this task allowed me to figure out what I liked and disliked so I could prepare my poster.
Planning And Preperation
Planning And Preperation
I knew that I didn't want my poster to be a recreation of a poster that already exists, instead, I wanted the poster to be a collaboration of the features that I enjoyed from other posters I had seen. I also wanted the poster to be aimed at children, I had a few characters in mind. After referring back to my primary and secondary research, it was clear that most people had high expectations for the visuals and typography so decided I would first focus my attention on creating characters. I wanted my characters to appear relevant to the Halloween genre while still being suitable for children, so I knew that I wanted the poster to be a digital animation rather than a photographed image that would provide more realism which is not often used in children's films. I still wanted to ensure that I was favouring simplicity in my design even through the characters, so I first began finding images that I liked. I used Pinterest to create a board that included images, colours, and typography.
I watched this video on YouTube, the video motivated me to create designs that would appeal to children and showed good examples of how to draw more aesthetically cute characters and images.
The Pumpkins Moon
The Pumpkins Moon
I liked this image as it is comprehensive yet still shows relevance to the theme and provides context to the film, introducing the main character. However, I thought that the image didn't provide much character insight. The image is easy to understand, but I still wanted something that showed more mystery and intrigued the viewer.
I took a lot of inspiration from the positioning of the character, I was fond of how it created a magical feeling and wanted to include this in mine.
At this point, I was still unsure about how I wanted the layout to look and how that would affect the positioning of this character. Because of this, I created another sketch of the same character from a different view. Once again, I vaguely used an image from Pinterest to help give me an idea about how I wanted the character to look. I chose this image because the character fits the theme and target audience appropriately. It provided an image that could intrigue both an older and younger audience.
This was my sketch based on the other drawing. My aim was not to recreate the drawing entirely but to use the bits that I liked.
I did like this result, nevertheless, the image didn't provide much mystery.
I also started looking at different typography and created some different lettering.
This was my sketch that was vaguely based on the other image.
In my opinion, the sketch didn't capture the essence of Halloween the way I intended it to. It seemed to not provide much obscurity.
I liked this colour palette and wanted to use it. The colour scheme is subtle enough to invite younger audiences while still having an eerie omen that fits the theme. For instance, the orange/yellow often evokes warmth and excitement creating a festive yet spooky atmosphere suitable for Halloween.
I completed a few other sketches; the first is an undeveloped sketch, and the second is after I had developed it. The third image is the background, which was inspired by the poster 'Caroline'.
Developing My Ideas
Developing My Ideas
I made this font using Adobe Illustrator, I first started by typing the word 'Halloween' as I was still unsure of what I wanted my title to be. After this, I explored the different effects. I used the pucker and bloat effect for this one. To create the blood-dripping impact, I used the pen tool and filled it with the red I used for the typography. I also used the pen tool after this to create the hashtag scars.
This one was made using the gradient tool. After this, I used both the pucker and bloat effect and the roughen effect under 'effect' and 'distort and transform'. To make the spider web, however, I first started by using the line segment tool. Following this, I thickened the stroke and rotated it 90 degrees. Next, I created multiple copies under 'effect' and 'transform'. Later, I used the pen tool to create more intricate lines between the thicker ones and used the direct selection tool to bend the lines. Finally, I used the width tool to provide more detail. For the spiders, I just created small circular shapes using the ellipse tool and then made lines from it
Lastly, I created this one by using the ellipse tool to make the oval background, i then outlined this using black and filled it pink. After that, I used the font Edwardian Script ITC. I then arranged this to go over the oval I had just made. Finally, I used the spider webs that I had made previously and arranged them how I wanted them.
I began by using the rectangle tool to create the background. Next, I used the gradient tool to select my original colour, making it lighter as it approached the middle right. Knowing that I was going to create the moon, I chose this technique to enhance the illusion of brightness, creating a magical feeling for the audience.
I then used the elippse tool to create a circular shape for the moon. I then used a two coloured gradient to fill the shape. I centered this in the gradient that i had made before.
I wanted the moon to look more realistic and mystical so i created another circle using the elipse tool agin. However, this time i created it slightly bigger than the one before but using the same gradient. I brought this one forward and clicked on 'Gaussian blur' under 'effects' then 'Blur'.
I used this image of the moon and the 'Pencil tool' to create the darker patches. After outlining these i grouped them and placed them on top of my moon.
I tried to make the darker parts fit the theme still by making them in the shapes of ghosts and pumpkins.
I created the grass by using the 'pencil tool' and drawing out the curves. I then selected the all the shapes i had created and used the 'shape builder' tool, held alt on my keyboard and deleted unwanted parts. For the grass i used the 'pen tool' and drew it out ontop of the grass i had alreaddy put down.
Next, I moved onto making my pumpkin character. I first started this by using the 'ellipse tool' i created this oval shape, copied it and arranged it in the shape of a pumkin.
I used a gradient to provide more dimension to my character as well as presenting where exactly the light would hit it. I created the stalk of the pumpkin by drawing it using the pen tool and placed this on top. I used the width tool after this to widen and thin parts of the pumpkin, making it appear more realistic. Lastly i used the pen tool to create the face.
I made the witch silhouette by referencing my sketches from before. I used the pen tool and drew it out. After this i filled it with a black shade.
For the typography, i used a font called 'Charming Font Expanded'. I chose this font as it stayed with the theme of Halloween. I also used the direct selection tool to enhance certain parts of the title and place it.
Finally i created a few finishing touches including a shadow under the pumkins, stars surrounding the edges, a sign to show the suitable demographic and text stating that the film will sonn be available in cinemas.
The final poster and feedback
The final poster and feedback
Once I had finished I then created another Google form asking for feedback as something felt off about the poster but I couldn't tell what it was. I am very glad that I did this as it helped me correct any silly mistakes I had made in the process. My survey simply asked, "What do you like and dislike about this poster?"
Before Improvements.
Before Improvements.
After Improvements.
After Improvements.
Results of survey:
Results of survey:
Although the changes made were not obvious, I believe they were necessary for keeping the poster professional. I corrected my mistakes by spelling the word pumpkin correctly and taking on the feedback to make the U sign smaller.
Evaluation
Evaluation
My feelings about this project are ambivalent. Each task was different, but they all helped me develop new skills and highlighted areas where I needed to improve. My first task, which involved collecting primary and secondary research, was particularly valuable to the overall process. The primary research allowed me to understand what different audiences enjoy. As someone who doesn't typically watch horror films, this insight guided my approach and provided useful guidelines. I learned that people prefer simpler designs and favour imagery when looking at a poster, so I made sure to create a poster that aligned with these preferences. My secondary research was probably what I enjoyed most. Finding out how different iconic posters were made and why they stand out not just objectively but also personally gave me varying ideas when it came to how to enhance colour schemes, imagery and typography while still presenting them professionally.
I used Adobe Illustrator primarily in the development stage, to create my poster, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with the software since I had only used it a few times before. This made it challenging for me to navigate specific tools and find what I needed. To overcome this issue, I watched various tutorial videos that covered the basics of the program. Additionally, I familiarized myself with the software by experimenting with basic shapes, gradients, and other features. Although it was challenging at first, after completing my poster, I now feel much more confident using the software and have acquired skills that will benefit me in future projects. I learned how to use tools like gradients, the pen tool, and the blurring effect—techniques that I applied in my final piece to achieve the desired style and graphics.
After creating my poster, I decided to send out a survey to gather feedback and make improvements. I felt that something was missing in my design, but I wasn't sure what it was. The feedback I received through the Google Forms survey highlighted the issues I needed to address.
One of the main problems was the careless mistakes I had made without noticing. Although these mistakes seem obvious in hindsight, I realize that my time management skills were lacking, which caused me to overlook these final details.
I’m glad I was able to solve the issues by gathering feedback, but I believe I can improve my time management for future projects. To do this, I plan to create a schedule and a checklist. This approach will allow me to see what tasks need to be completed and at what time, enabling me to check them off as I finish each one. By organizing my time better, I will have more opportunities to focus on the finer details and avoid making obvious mistakes.
I am proud to have completed the poster, but I don’t believe it is as effective as I had hoped. My goal was to create a simplistic and nostalgic design with compelling imagery and graphics that accurately represented the target audience while maintaining a professional appearance. Although I feel that I effectively conveyed the target audience and utilised simple imagery, I believe the poster still lacks professionalism because the text is not as clear as I would have liked, largely due to the gothic typography. In the future, I need to find fonts that capture the theme while also being clear and legible for viewers. On a positive note, based on the feedback I received, most people liked the font and enjoyed the colour scheme I used.
Overall, I really enjoyed working on this project, and I gained many new skills that will be beneficial for future endeavours. It also provided me with valuable insights about my own abilities, as well as areas where I need to improve to ensure success in upcoming projects.
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