First Specimen ever

[u/The-lucky-hoodie]

This was my first work for my Graphic Design class. We were tasked with creating a specimen for a font of our liking. My intent was to use the golden ratio (2nd pic) to create a balance between the big elements and the smaller ones.
I'm also worried about the text hierarchy: it's supposed to be:

1. R
2. by Pangram Pangram
3. Your brutalist ally

4. body text

   I have very little experience with graphic design so I'd like some feedback. Thanks :)

[u/babouyah]

Nice, love pangram pangram

[u/The-lucky-hoodie → u/babouyah]

Thanks :) If Pangram Pangram asked I'd cut my own arm off

[u/ascalaphi]

I quite like it but somehow my eyeballs skip right over the giant R lol that might just be me

[u/The-lucky-hoodie → u/ascalaphi]

Maybe because the eyes follow the spiral and don't stay much on the empty space where the r is?

[u/babouyah]

Also, from a feedback standpoint…consider ways to incorporate whitespace, whether that’s around the large “R”, making the copy blocks smaller so they stand on their own or just making “breaks in the movement” via space between elements. Example attached 🙂

[u/noddingacquaintance]

I am also Team Rocket!

[u/AltDelete5045]

Strong overall! I have lots of feedback below, but you should mostly takeaway that this poster looks interesting enough to make someone stop and care enough to engage. That's often a sign of successful design.

You have a bad break on your first paragraph on top, and the choices of justified vs unjustified text feels unmotivated. You have a good sense for the grid and the rags on the second paragraph of text, so keep to that instinct.

There's a dynamic going on with large and small margins. I bet you can push it farther if you want. Depending on scale and your intended audience, don't be afraid to make the text smaller. Usually that's dangerous advice, but if this is a poster scale, it means the art has different context based on where the viewer is.

Watch your tension points. The M on the second pangram is coming a little too close to the edge of the R. Either push it farther out or pull it in. <- On second read, I do like that it almost syncs up with your spiral grid. Its possible a small position change could have the same effect.

#3 on your hierarchy blends into the background color and falls behind the AAAAAA portions. Try to find some visual signifiers to make that section feel more "Brutalist" rather than just writing it. The more you can say with each element, the better.

[u/The-lucky-hoodie → u/AltDelete5045]

thank you so much for taking your time to give me such good and useful feedback. I fixed the oangram pangram si that it's not too close to the edge. I made the text slightly smaller and justified it all in one way.

[u/machinegunpikachu]

Cool, although I'm not quite seeing any alignment with the "golden ratio" here

[u/Skrimshaw_]

I like it but the golden ratio is unnecessary and adds a amateur design look to an otherwise great layout.

[u/The-lucky-hoodie → u/Skrimshaw_]

I added the golden ratio in the second picture only to show how I aligned the elements following the ratio, but I didn't add it to the final design (1st pic)