Help Critique My Banner Art

[djaeggi]

Hi folks,

Longtime reader, first time posting anything.

Can anyone offer a critique of this?

It's going to be printed on a 4'x8' vinyl banner to be displayed outdoors. I'm not a designer and I've looked at this thing for so long that I can't even tell what works and what doesn't. It'd be nice to get a fresh pair of eyes on it.

I'm sending this to the print shop to silkscreen several hundred of these, so any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all.

 

[Blue Velvet]

First of all, since you've said that you're not a designer and that it's going to be silkscreened, have you talked to your screen printer about setting the artwork up properly? It should be a two colour job to keep costs down and should be done in either InDesign/Quark or Illustrator in spot colours. An RGB or CMYK large format bubblejet may prove more costly at that quantity at a lower quality.

The first thing I look at is type and the biggest problem you have here is the tiny size of the web address. It's simply not legible or clear at that size. Apart from that I'm not sure where to start as there's a lot going on in there. My impulse would be to simplify it, the little touches like the leaves and the mains plug, add to a sense of disorganisation. Personally, I'd start with a solid green and leave off the white swash at the bottom unless that's a critical part of the branding. Then, I'd try to stick to just one typeface; you've got some Futura and some Impact or some other black condensed sans in there... I'd stick to one typeface, one symbol of electronic waste, one leaf. Keep it simple.

There's an awkward empty space top right which makes it feel unbalanced. The arrow also looks like an afterthought, squeezed in into the lower right hand corner. My main feeling is that you've overworked it and it's become a bit of a clutter. If you make some changes, I'll be happy to provide more feedback.

 

[galstaph]

Definitely simplify it, too many concepts competing for attention.
Try designing around one main concept, use fewer fonts and font sizes.
Do not clutter it up with all the leaves and doodads... it just makes it look too busy and therefore unappealing.
Simple simple simple, especially as you are just starting out. Clarify your most important concept, sketch it out with a pencil, rework it until it feels right. Also look on the net at ads that appeal to you, what did they do that works for you, how can you incorporate those layout/concept ideas into your own work to make it better? Take all that and your sketches work them together and then make it digital and come back to us, I'll bet dollars to donuts it'll be a lot nicer and more coherent and cohesive, just keep at it.

BTW, the leaves make me think I can recycle my compost/tree leaves there as well, if this is for electronics, I think you can leave them out (no pun intended)

 

[Kwill]

Prioritize the key words. They should stand out. Others can be reduced or eliminated for the most impact. Perhaps...

e-waste dropoff

 

[citizenzen]

My impulse would be to simplify it, the little touches like the leaves and the mains plug, add to a sense of disorganisation. Personally, I'd start with a solid green and leave off the white swash at the bottom unless that's a critical part of the branding.

Prioritize the key words.

I'm going to confirm the same message.

I was particularly bothered by the bottom swoop. And since this has to do with e-waste, clean and technical is the way to go... no need for any leaves.

The main message is FREE E-Waste Recycling HERE... it's not an ad for a service, it's a signal to people that right HERE is where you drop e-waste off for FREE. So I'd definitely make those two aspects very clear. Arrows can help reinforce that, but it needs a little work.

The e-waste part is more difficult. What exactly is e-waste? Do batteries count? You can't explain all of that in a simple sign. So while I like the idea of adding a few icons to help illustrate what e-waste is, I think they could be much smaller.

Another thing that I'm missing here is availability. Can I just drive up and drop things off anytime I like? Are there specific hours or days this is open? If so, is that information clearly available elsewhere or does it need to be included?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... but sometimes a word is worth a thousand pictures. Once you use the word "Recycling" you don't need to include the recycling symbol. You certainly don't need to give it such prominence.

I hope that helps some. Now that you've gone cross-eyed starring at this thing for so long, we just gave you number of reasons to stare at it a while longer. Sorry. Designers will do that to you.

 

[CW Jones]

I'll only comment on one thing I noticed... lots of awkward an trapped negative space. Like the upper right hand corner is all just trapped negative space which doesn't flow at all.