THE OBSERVATORY POSTER CONCEPT

OMH
Mar 10, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Apr 3, 2020

"They have landed. "

For the Tolworth project I was set on bringing The Observatory to Tolworth (see blog on SPUD collaboration) as it has so many benefits that would help our project get to the next level. From educational programmes to artist residencies, the community surrounding and in Tolworth would gain so much from this award winning structure being held in the local nature reserve where we would hope that the reserve will benefit from more visitors because of The Observatory.

I needed to make a poster concept that showcases the important aspects of The Observatory as well as showing it is in Tolworth and the relevant information that the public will need. Looking at the structure I instantly think of a modern space ship that has just landed in a beautiful scenic spot around the country, just like the film Arrival and the alien pods that land on earth over night, they are minimal, cleanly designed and cast such a beautiful contrast over the landscape that makes people want to explore and see what they up close.

From the images above which are the advertising posters for the film Arrival, you can see what I mean when they both, The Observatory and these alien pods are really dramatic in contrasting scenery. I loved this film and I like the idea of making it seem like The Observatory has landed in Tolworth so I decided to find a recognisable picture of Tolworth and to edit it so it looked like Tolworth Tower was replaced by these new, exciting structures.

I feel as though this was a powerful way of The Observatory 'landing' or 'taking over' Tolworth and I wanted to use black and white as the colours as it allows for the text and other elements of the poster to stand out more, furthermore The Observatory focuses on its silhouette and overall design shape so it being in black and white doesn't take anything away from it. Also the picture was too square so I made sure to create more sky meaning I had more canvas to work with when establishing where to put the text.

CREDIT - MINE

I used green as I believe it was important to incorporate the nature theme throughout our work.

I am still working on this concept so there will be a follow up for it as I believe there is still work to be done on it but I am pleased especially with how The Observatory is sitting in the Tolworth town centre as well as the use of the rectangle box with a low opacity as it really breaks down the black and white well and creates a good place to put information.

Coming back to this, the element I don't like on the poster is the Text on the left hand side, it doesn't sit right with the rest of the poster so I decided to remove it and make the text in the green rectangle bigger so it still shows the important information clearly.

CREDIT - MINE

FLICK TO SEE POSTER ON WALL

It is important to see how the poster can adapt to a space in a real environment where people will walk past and maybe only look for it for a couple of seconds. This makes the colour pallet as well as the text very important as it is vital the correct information is delivered in that tiny space of time where the publics attention is on the poster. I believed the information such as what The Observatory is and what it brings is extremely clear. Education, Social events, Award winning and Discovering all in bigger text grabs your attention making you want to read on. The image behind also plays a big part as it is The Observatory in Tolworth (where Tolworth Tower is) so it hints at the location of where it is but to back it up the address and relevant contact information can be seen in the green rectangle as well. Using the green to follow through with the natural biophilic design work creates great continuity and the contrast of the natural greens with the sharp black of the poster is really nice as well.