I noticed this colorful poster hanging by the information desk in the Haas Arts Library. It advertises Thursday's open house at the Yale School of Art. The poster is particularly effective in its clear presentation of several levels of information hierarchy: the designers had to distinguish between the main title (Yale MFA 2013-14), secondary headings (website, event title, date), subsidiary information (QR code, Dean Robert Storr's message, department names), and background texture (faculty names, color, and shape). 

The poster was designed by Henk van Assen, a critic in Yale's graphic design program, with Loide Marwanga, YC '10, and Sarah Eidelson, YC '12. The dimensionality of this poster -- a sense created by the overlapping/cut-out/stencilled letters in the background -- complicates the picture plane and draws the viewer in to interact with the complexity of the poster's information.

In Henk's words, "The fragmented design and typography tries to accomplish a visual 'voice' that represents the School of Art as a dynamic, productive, inquisitive institution where, in Dean Storr's words: 'students have work to do.' In addition to attracting general attention, the color helps to connect the names of faculty to the respective concentrations within the school. The relatively large scale differentiation between overall message and faculty names generates both a spatial experience and provides a visual texture that only becomes clear when looking up close. The QR code connects directly to the applications page on the web site."

Find out more about the School of Art's MFA Open House on their website.

PDF-derived images courtesy of Henk van Assen.