rafael lópez studio: Poster Poster

Thanks to Poster Poster for featuring the ReImagine poster I created for the Americas Latino Eco Festival on Poster Monday yesterday. Seemed like a good time to look back at some of the other posters I've created over the years for a variety of organizations, political and social causes. The idea is the important thing when coming up with a poster. I start by thinking about the audience and how to communicate a message with impact.

When working on a series like the Americas Latino Eco Festival I wanted to find a fresh approach as so many concepts had already been tried. Although I observe trends my goal with these posters was to search for simple, concise ideas that would send a message.

THE IDEA COUNTS
I start with lots of words and thumbnail drawings to get the ideas
flowing. The five Rs of conservation are reduce, reuse, recycle, restore and
replenish. I played off this mantra by adding to that list with reflect, re-flourish,
reawaken and re-imagine.

GET CONSISTENT
Once I had these themes I was challenged to unite the
poster series yet keep each individual poster compelling. I decided to design a
background element and leaf/teardrop shape that is a repeating element used in
different ways. You can find it in the bird wings, flower petals, tears and
leaves. Then I consistently implemented textures I had photographed in my
hometown of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico to add emotion to the posters. The
deconstructed type designed by Lulubi Garcia is also a unifying element.

COLOR AND TEXTURE
The posters below became official campaign posters of the 2008 and 2012 campaigns targeting Latino voters. I employed textural affects and motifs this demographic would connect to. Latinos have no chromphobia so my approach to color was to interpret the vision and determination of the President in vibrant hues they would relate to. I spend long hours developing painting techniques and photographing textures that I can add digitally to my compositions.