This
poster was created by Lippa Pearce for a production of Shakespeare's
Macbeth. I found this illustration
compelling for three reasons; it was created completely of type, the type is
formed from a non-traditional medium (a bloodlike substance); and the negative
space is the means to the graphic force.
The use of splattered blood in the poster creates an immediate visceral
reaction. We have all seen it used
before in horror movies and to depict murder.
But it also represents more serious and deathly issues such as war,
crime, and genocide. In this case, I
feel like it was used judiciously to represent a serious crime - a crime that
will haunt the audience not just give them a momentary chill and thrill. Blood is the frame for the title in the
Macbeth poster which makes it take on a distorted, obscured shape. Thus, creating a greater significance. Also, creating text from the negative space
forces the viewer to decipher the composition which increases the interaction
between viewer and the message.
As far as
the type goes, I thought it was Helvetica Bold Condensed but then I looked at the
rounded edge on the E. But maybe that was an intentional imperfection?
Source: Heller, Steven and Mirko Ilic, The Anatomy
of Design, Rockport Publishers, Beverly, Massachusetts, 2009
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