Contrast

An effective use of contrast

http://www.sleepyskunk.com/movieIdeas/view/?id=277

The use of contrast is contributing to the success of this Ghostbusters III movie poster. The contrast in this poster is operating in three main aspects: contrast in color, contrast in scale and contrast in shape. First, the utilize of the three primary color: red, black and white have a very intense contrast within one and other. The plain white ghost character and the red stop sign appear on the solid black background, which creates an obvious pop-out effect. This provides a particular zone of focal point to this poster, which catches viewers' attention and interest. Other than color, contrast in scale also plays an important role in the success of this poster. When we look at the poster as a whole, the ghost's HUGE three fingers hand sign also has a pop-out effect because of its unbalanced proportion. By comparing the size of ghost's hand to its size of body, we can realize that its fingers are totally out of proportion. This draws viewers' attention in order to indicate them that this is Ghostbusters "III" movie. Last but not least, the contrast in shape is also utilized in this poster, the "rounded" stop sign has a contrast to the "jagged"  fingers of the ghost, which adds extra contrast to this poster. Contrast not only effectively makes this poster stand out, but it also makes this poster rememberable!

A lack of or poor use of contrast

http://indulgy.com/post/er8vq3sr51/to-print-and-read-it-every-day

The lack of contrast is contributing to the failure of this poster. The reason why this is not a successful poster because it lack three main aspects of contrast: lack contrast in color, lack contrast in scale, and lack contrast in depth. First, it is lack contrast of color; the entire poster is using only one color, which is plain pink/purple. This does not provide a pop-out effect to be able to attract viewers' attentions. Secondly, it is lack contrast of scale. There is not any typographic hierarchy in this poster. The size of the front are in same style, and they are all uppercase. Since contrast is a relationship between two discourse segments. Therefore, if the contents of the poster do not have any contrast element, it will be very boring. Lastly, this poster is lack contrast in depth. As I mentioned, this poster is all covered by words without any space/room in between, which creates an extremely wordy and confusing feeling to its viewers. "Confusion and ambiguity are generally not effective in design or communication." In short, because of the lack use of contrast, this poster is a failed example of design.