Color Working With HARTS

For the H.A.R.T.'s project, the instructional design team needed a basic emergency contact poster. For both posters I created an icon that represents an emergency button.  For the poster on the left, I chose analogous colors, red, yellow, and orange.  The heaviest emphasis was placed on the red, which I fully saturated.  Rather than have a pure yellow in the background, I reduced the saturation giving greater contrast between the icon, text, and background.  Then, I allowed the border to retain the fully saturated red, again to add contrast.  Though it does not have a lot of graphics or design, its simple components give clear access to necessary information.

The poster on the right is much more subdued.  This poster contained red, analogous yellow, and complementary green.  For the circle icon, I included a sunburst style and then adjusted the hue.  I also added an embossed texture to outline the green rectangular background.  Finally, following the idea of a monochromatic variation, I drastically reduced the saturation of the circular icon and the background.  This places emphasis on the purely saturated red "Emergency Contact," as well as the contact information.  While the poster on the right certainly is not as bright, and does not grab you attention as quickly, it may suffice depending on the wall color.  It also fulfills the weekly color assignment.

Evaluating Components:  Connotation, Attributes, and Placement

Left poster (red on yellow):  Red has long been a color theme for emergency symbols, i.e. the Red Cross, emergency exits, stop signs, etc.  So red definitely works to gain attention.  The red circle behind the font is intended to appear as a button.  It does; however, it may also distract somewhat from the emergency title which should be the primary focus.  In addition, the red border could be lightened to further enhance the focal point. The fonts are simple and large enough to read.  The placement is my largest concern.  I experimented by first aligning the button to the left of the emergency text, and then ultimately decided to place the text on top of the button emphasizing a single focal point.  Of course, the black text underneath the icon is equally important.  Again, it is in a simple and easy-to-read font.  The yellow background box is not completely centered.  Additionally, although I chose a lighter shade of yellow, it still does not contrast enough with the yellow font.  It might have been wise to change the yellow font to bright orange.  Then, I could have still fulfilled the color component assignment and the "emergency contact" would appear much bolder.

Right poster (monochromatic variation).  First, I created this poster as part of the assignment.  While the church members may prefer a more subdued poster, it does not fit the theme of an emergency contact. The circular icon has lost its "button" appearance and looks more like a circle with a gradient fill, which it is.  Secondly, the rectangular backgrounds look more like mattes for photographs found in a scrapbook, than a poster on a wall that is supposed to quickly capture your attention. Again, the emergency contact and name fonts are easy to read and large enough for a wall. I realize I forgot to add a space between the "Call" and the names.  Maybe, the emergency contact could have been increased in size for better emphasis.  Overall, I don't think it is a good representation of what is needed.  However, like I said prior, it completes the second color assignment and offers the church a more subdued poster choice.

Clarity, Audience, & Purpose

Both of these designs are actually the "before" products for my HARTS visual.  Therefore, since I do not consider them finalized, please refer to my HARTS emergency contact visual for my responses.