Final Piece Crit

Anti Trump/ Anti May protest

A poster based on one of the chants from the protest but has been adapted to make it more relevant to Leeds. The shape is based on the route we walked during the protest and the colour red is often used in politics and propaganda posters. 

What can I do to improve?

+ good presentation of poster (placard relevant to protest)

+ good use of red colour - blue would have been more patriotic

- reprinting may improve quality

- is it celebratory?

+ good bold use of colour and material

+/- relevant to context, could be slightly more related to Leeds

+ overall good use of bold typography as bold and links to protest

- could've printed onto the wood directly, or print could've filled the entire board

+ good concept/ great message, love the rough ready style to the print and the bits of white

- could try printing over pro trump/may headline front pages

- use trump's face as the background, it would be more interesting

- make 'NO's same size

+ good use of colour, reflects the aggression of a protest

+ love the use of putting the screen print onto a sign

+ nice bold typography

- photo emulsion could be washed off better for a cleaner print

What I took away from this crit

Positives 
The placement of the poster into context on a placard works really well and is a good idea for an extra touch. The presentation is excelled because of it and the poster looks better when placed onto it. The use of colour is also good, the bright red is eye catching and bold, and perfect for a political themed print. As well as this the colour is aggressive which my peers felt suited a protest really well. Alongside this, the capitalised bold font also makes an impression - similar to text you'd see on placards in protests which is the look I was going for. Other comments included the rough appearance of the print - since I screen printed the outcome would not be perfect and I quite like the look of the texture and patchiness, it gives the sign the handmade look reminiscent of other placards.

What I could improve on

The main thing I could improve on in my own opinion was to print straight onto the board instead of just on paper and then adhering it. My opinions were backed up in the crit, some of my peers thought that the poster would've looked better if it was printed straight onto the wood, or if the poster took up the entire board. Another opinion was that I could've washed off the photo emulsion more for a cleaner print - this contradicts what another person said about the handmade style so I could leave this to personal preference but I like the handmade style personally. Another useful tip I could've applied would be to print over Trump or May, in particular pictures of their faces or any pro Trump/ May headlines. This would've made the overall appearance far more interesting and the print would've made a bolder statement. A peer asked if my print was celebratory - something that actually made me think. I celebrate the idea of the protest as it was the community coming together and standing up to fascism, something which I think is important. However I don't think my print is celebratory enough on reflection - the only aspect that I feel celebrates it is the addition of the coordinates for the town hall and the date of the protest, although these are very small. I could've made the print more celebratory upon reflection, or even included the stand up to racism logo, the organisation who organised the protest.