Where there are Shadows, there is Light.
by smyk

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

You paired imagge with message quite well. The message itself could be much larger. Mispelled word in the phrase probably knocked this down a bit as well.

Overall this is a very nice entry and scored very, very well.

Hope
by Brin

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

The photo carries this poster,and obviously carried it right to the top 10. Really super shot.

Probably the only reason this didn't climb all the way to top 3 is the font. The message is a bit small (the photo is there to reinforce the messsage, not the other way around) and the font is lackluster. Also the white font and border is rather jarring against the wonderful muted tones of the photo itself.

Great shot, and it scored very well.

Let your heart SOAR as high as it will. Refuse to be average! ~ A.W. Tozer
by WriteHeart

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

Everything I would say abou this entry you already figured outfor yourself and are showing off in your 'what I would do know' shot. Only commentary I would add would be look for a font that delivers the message with authority. Forum experts aside, fonts such as Times New Roman are not the tools of designers who lack creativity - they have a look to them that adds a feeling of authority and impact to the message they deliver.

The photo itself here is quite beautiful. Could consider centering it in the frame or cropping wider a bit so you can push it up a bit more into the right corner.

Good work!

No to family violence
by btrinh

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

The message in this shot isn't really motivational, and that probably attracted some negative votes.

The crop of the shot, in oroutside of this specific challenge, is really not pleasing to the eye. There are shapes and ratios which we expect to see because they are found in the world around us and have been in use for thousands of years. Sticking to something of a classic rectangular 2:3 or 4:5 crop would probably work much better here.

The image does work well with your message.

BALANCE
by goc

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

You have all the pieces of a classic 'motivational poster' here. Big image that reinforces the message and a very simple word or phrase presented in a bold manner.

The image itself is probably what kept this shot from scoring 6+. It needs a bit more contrast and some digial wizardry to knock that yellow haze in the sky into something a bit more eye catching. Might also benefit by reducing the size of the image slightly so the text below gets a bit more real estate and can make more of an impact rather than being completely dwarfed by the picture.

I think had you left the 'embrace me' part off the tag line, the layout of the text itself would have looked better (more room on each side's margin). Also, no one wants to embrace work and no poster short of one designed by Goebbel's himself is likely to make them do so - so no real gain by adding that line lol. ;)

PRESERVE WILDLIFE
by ursula

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

This entry followed the 'classic' motivational poster formula in terms of graphical design and content layout.

Very nice picture (the bit of dodge/burn to highlight the center of the shot is subtle and well done), the message in a large font and centered for impact, the font itself one that has a feeling of authority.

Two things that struck me as slightly off. First, it's more of a public service announcement than a motivational poster. Could argue it either way, but Smokey the Bear telling me not to toss cigarettes into piles of leaves doesn't make me feel motivated, just informed. I think a lot of people that voted in the challenge did have a fairly concrete definition of what type of message should be presented.

Second thing was the cursive script. I think it's pretty, I like how you placed it and the choice of color was extremely complementary to the rest of the poster - but I can barely read it. It just doesn't work well for the medium (medium being postage stamp sized web images) though is no doubt stunning at a decent size.

This image scored quite well and rightfully so. I think those couple of nitpicks probably kept it out of top 10, because really it's a solid entry.

Great work!

don't stop looking
by posthumous

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

Obviously voters in this challenge had one specific style of 'poster' in their minds, and the entries that stuck prety close to that ideal tended to do better than those that followed a different path.

Motivational posters are propaganda - nothing more, nothing less. Wether or not they are art is secondary to the fact that they are designed to inspire a very specific feeling in the people who look at them. They do this through 3 things

- message
- photo to reinforce the message
- font and text placement for maximum impact

This shot has a clear message. Making the catch-phrase larger than the rest of the poem was a smart move because you get about .047 seconds to get the message across so it had better be obvious.

This photo works well to reinforce that message. However the dog looking for something is such a small portion of the overall scene that its impact is greatly reduced. A much tighter crop focusing on the dog sniffing around on a patch of yard would be stronger and would also likely avoid the great shifts between dark and light that follow the poster from top to bottom.

The font used here is very lackluster and the message's placementin the scene is a bit haphazard. However, if done consciously, placing the catch phrase right at the spot the dog is sniffing was an excellent choice. Again, imagery to reinforce message.

Obviously this challenge called for skills (or at least the ability to copycat other's skills) that aren't entirely photographic in nature, so it was a tough one for many.

Good luck!

Sunscreen
by EssAreDubya

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

An argument can be made that this is motivating people to use sunscreen, but a more widely accepted notion of motivational posters would likely classify this as some sort of public service or health awareness announcement. Judging from the large amount of 4's voted, I'm guessing a lot of people liked the image and voted down a bit for the message.

The shot itself is nice. Decent composition and lighting, if a little blown out on the woman's legs.

The font itself is a bit lack luster, and fails to deliver its message with impact. In these posters, how the message is presented is as important as both the image used and the message itself. It's a complete package and all three really need to be on the spot for the overall effect to work. Let's face it, these posters are pure propaganda and propaganda is an art unto itself.

Good luck!

When the winds of life blow, bend if you must but dont you break
by Delta_6

Comment:
Critique Club feedback -

This shot had all the elements of a high scoring motivational poster, but a few things held it back.

The image itself is great and well composed. It almost screams 'slap some text on me and let's make a poster!'. It really needs increased contrast to get the tree to pop out of the rest of the scene. Also shooting this from a lower point of view so that the tree itself would be framed entirely by sky rather than by the horizon split would also give it more weight.

The phrase you chose works very well with the imagery. The layout of the text and the font used are also nice.

I think people had a fairly concrete notion of what these posters should look like as far as font and overall graphical design, and this poster is very different from that standard. That is probably the largest reason this didn't score higher.

Nonetheless, a very creative and well designed poster. If you choose to follow the herd-think next time this challenge pops, you will no doubt be a top contender.

Beauty - Appreciate Simplicity
by Kathe

Comment:
Critique Club feedback-

This was such an odd challenge, and the voters seemed to expect a pretty standard type of 'poster'. While this is a nice combination of image and phrase, it doesn't immediately come across as motivational and can be (and likely was) interpreted as just a pleasant platitude on the benefit of appreciating the simple things in the world.

The font and placement of text on the poster also moved away from people's notion of what these posters should look like. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just different and likely different enough to have affected the score. I do think the placement of the words in the frame is ok, and the size change of the font was a good approach.

The photo itself is nicely lit with some good details around the water droplets. A bit deeper focus might have given this a bit more pop as much of the twig is blurred out in prominent areas of the overall poster.

Overall this isn't bad and it picked up a slightly above average score as a result. Good work!