Psalm Poster

(Adobe Illustrator)

Prompt: Using the content from Psalm 150, design a poster using the style of a famous graphic designer. 
 

The designer I studied was Lucian Bernhard. Bernhard revolutionized product advertising in the mid-1910s. He singlehandedly invented German poster design, which was characterized by minimalism and shape driven compositions. Bernhard was inspired by the fauvists: artists and painters who used bright colors fearlessly and wildly.

I selected Psalm 150 because the joyful subject matter matched the bright colors of Bernhard’s style. Psalm 150 also mentioned specific objects; I thought I could mimic Bernhard’s composition style with them. Bernhard used the strategy of placing an object in front of a single word to emphasize both elements without any distractions or clutter. Originally I wanted a pair of cymbals in front of the words “Psalm 150”, but the purpose of this poster was to communicate praise with color, not just “sell” the object. A few of the fonts I tried were too complex and distracting, so I used one that was similar to Bernhard’s font. Although the composition is minimal, the shofar horn extends towards the viewer to bring them in to the composition. This is a classic technique that Bernhard used in nearly all of his compositions.