Salt Lake City Comic Con. Billboards

In addition to meeting the general requirements of this assignment, I tried to achieve a billboard design that would be simple enough for passers-by on I-15 to easily consume all of it, yet interesting enough to catch the attention and keep it long after someone had passed the stationary piece. The design should pander to the key publics of the event, so the different designs appeal to different cliques that all go to comic conventions. The billboards also achieve some mass appeal by using a mascot that is particularly catching to young children, and thereby, parents. Having a unifying symbol for the convention, like the mouse, give the event an identity; as that identity is revealed in different uniforms more people can relate to it and so the impact of the symbol is more widespread.

Color, typography, and gestalt principles of design also contribute to the design's semiotics. The boarders, colors, typography and subject of the frames invoke the frames of a comic book, visually tying all of the information and thirds of the billboard together.

The most creative aspect of the image is the combination of the "C" and the superscript "3" to create the ears, back and tail of the mouse. This combination of easily recognizable characters when combined with the outline of the front of the mouse gives the billboards a contemporary, street/pop art feel that can be appreciated by older audiences for its ascetic appeal and by younger audiences for the "Cool-Joe" mouse.

I had a lot of fun with these billboards and I think some of that passion comes though the color and detail of the mice. I also enjoyed the class very much and hope that these reflect that I really have learned something in it.