English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 5-How to Describe a POSTER with Pomp and Pride!

LEARN HOW TO DESCRIBE A POSTER

“I love the big scale and immediate impact of posters. They are my favourite to design.”

“A good poster makes you look at it.”

~Paula Scher, Graphic Designer

Posters are meant to be seen, displayed, exhibited, shown-off. They are everywhere around us.

Oftentimes, they are striking and eye-catching. They speak to our senses and urge us to act.

These are powerful visual objects and they need to be described accordingly.

With tact…

With skill…

With creativity…

With audacity…

And most of all, with pride…and pomp… because that is what posters are all about.

THEY ARE BOLD…

THEY ARE OSTENTATIOUS…

THEY ARE UNAPOLOGETIC.

In this last lesson of the ‘Describing Pictures‘, you will learn how to describe a poster with pride and pomp, making very good use of the vocabulary that you will acquire along the way.

What exactly is a ‘poster’ by the way?

A ‘poster’ is a large printed picture, photograph, notice, bill or placard that you stick or pin to a wall or board, usually for decoration or to advertise something in a public space. Nowadays, we also have digital posters that are created on a computer with graphic design software and can be viewed on the Internet.

Describe a Poster (STEP 1): Different Types of Posters

Posters that promote products or services

• Advertising or Ad
• Brand
• Product advertisement
• Promotional
• Merchandising
• Infomercial
• Book
• Literary
• Corporate
• Art
• Artist
• Musician
• Music
• Band
• Subject
• Event
• Film or movie
• Concert
• Boxing
• Pin-up
• Show
• TV Show
• Tv
• Theatre
• Fashion
• Food
• Travel

Posters that urge people to act

• Propaganda
• Political
• Campaign
• Child protection
• Gender equality
• Feminist
• Anti-racism
• Diversity
• Cultural diversity
• Multiculturalism
• Inspirational
• Motivational
• Demotivational
• Poster parody
• Affirmation
• Equal rights
• Equal pay
• Workplace
• Environmental
• Militant
• Ecology
• Animal protection
• Animal welfare

Posters that educate and spread awareness

• Informative
• Educational
• Enlightening
• Scientific
• Conference
• Health
• Mental health
• Health awareness
• Health and Safety
• Safety
• Workplace safety
• Natural disaster
• Research
• Wanted
• Historic
• Militant
• Environmental awareness
• Ecology
• Wildlife

Describe a Poster (STEP 2 ): What do you see?

Poster descriptions bear a striking resemblance to photograph, painting, drawing and advert analyses.

A few basic steps need to be followed when you are undertaking the task of describing your poster. These are: Identification, Description and Interpretation.

a) Identification of the Poster

Answer the 6 WH- questions: WHAT, WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW.

WHAT: An advertising poster? An environmental awareness poster? An event poster?

WHO: Who produced the poster and whom is he or she targeting?

WHEN: What is the date of publication, if any? Can you recognise the time of the day or period of the year, century, etc? Are there any distinctive seasons?

WHERE: Where is the poster set? Is it a real or imaginary place? Where does the poster feature? On a wall? At a bus shelter? In a shopping mall? On TV or online?

WHY: What is the purpose of the poster? What is the reason why this poster was produced? Is it to raise awareness on a specific subject? To promote a product, service or brand? To urge people into action? To make a certain type of population buy something?

HOW: How was the poster done? What are the techniques that were used? Is it a print, textual, digital, minimalist or holographic poster?

Sample Description

‘Keep Calm and Carry On‘ is a well-known print propaganda poster that was designed and issued by the British Ministry of Information in 1939 in order to prepare Britons for World War II. It was part of a series of three posters that were meant to raise the morale of British people in case their country was bombed. This textual red and white poster, which belongs to the public domain, has since been reproduced by many companies for profit.

Your Turn: Find a poster than you can describe briefly. Try to answer the 6-WH questions if possible.

b) Thorough Description of the Poster

What a great pleasure it is for us to describe posters! They are so rich in meaning and symbolism that we relish in hunting for the intended and hidden messages in a poster.

Do you feel the same way when you have to describe a poster? What is your approach when you see one?

The description process should not be daunting. Below are simple guidelines to help you with your task.

Here we go!

• Header or Headline: This is an important part of the poster. You should focus on what it says and how it says it. The font, position and colour of the text should give you an idea of what the poster is about.
• Tagline: This slogan will shed more light on the meaning of the poster. It is usually done in a creative way, so look out for those catchy phrases!
• Pictures: Images are equally important. What do you see? Where has the picture been put in the poster and how big is it? The size and position of an image in a poster will tell a thousand stories. Open up your eyes, minds and hearts! There is more to the picture than meets the eye!
• Text: Let’s talk about the textual elements of the poster now. Where are they and why? What do those little or big letters mean?
• Size and format: Are you dealing with a small, huge or life-size poster? Is the format portrait or landscape?
• General composition and layout: Nothing was put in the poster willy-nilly. Every placement was intentional. Watch out for the following areas: the focal point, the top, the bottom, the left, the right, the top left-hand corner, the top right-hand corner, the bottom left-hand corner, the bottom right-hand corner, the foreground, the background, the middle, etc.
• Colours: Colours are used for a specific purpose in the poster. They can be eye-catching, soothing, shocking or harmonious. Other Adjectives for describing colours can be: natural, artificial, warm, cool, neutral, light, dark, sombre, radiant, brilliant, bright, intense, blazing, twinkling, scintillating, shimmering, lively, dull, lacklustre, lifeless, insipid, flat, depressing, pale, harmonious, discordant, garish, mixed, blended, broken, ostentatious, loud, kitschy, drab, etc.
• Mood or atmosphere: A poster sends vibes and these can be good or bad, positive or negative. You can be uplifted by the cheerful yellow in a motivational poster or you can be depressed by the gloomy and sombre colours in a disaster awareness poster. What other Adjectives can you use? Of course, you can go for: lively, merry, perky, sparkly, joyful, blissful, bright, humorous, comical, animated, spirited, playful, whimsical, dark, sad, depressing, chilling, frightening, mysterious, disturbing, unsettling, peaceful, tranquil, calming, soothing, optimistic, pessimistic, lethargic, melancholy, angry, fearsome, ominous, ironical, satirical, etc.
• Motivation: What does the poster strive to do? Is it promoting a product? Is it trying to make us behave in a different way?

Sample Detailed Description

‘Hedgehog and Fish‘ is a Volkswagen print advertising poster that was created by DDB Tribal Berlin in 2012. It features a hedgehog that is parallel parking between two plastic bags filled with water and a bright orange goldfish. The purpose of the ad was to promote the newly-invented Park Assist technology in Volkswagen’s vehicles. Young, fearful and inexperienced drivers were obviously targeted by this advertisement —if a little animal can park with precision in such risky and precarious conditions, why can’t you!

The tension in the middle of this minimalist poster does not escape our hawk-eyed scrutiny either. We immediately see the humanised and focused hedgehog who is dangerously parking between two little goldfish who seem to be anxiously watching the hedgehog’s moves. The third goldfish is not in harm’s way and is oblivious to the fate of his fellow identical friends. The hedgehog’s manoeuvres are clearly the centre of attention. The little fish seem to be part of the background just like props in a play. They look the same and their fragile bags blend into the environment.

The tagline in the bottom left-hand corner of the ad brings momentary relief. It reads: ‘Precision Parking. Park Assist by Volkswagen.’ The font is small, dark and sober— it does not distract the viewer from the main action. Next to the tagline, we spot the company’s logo. It is equally undemanding and does the job of brand attraction and reinforcement.

Your Turn: Find an advert that you can describe in detail. Focus on important parts only.

c) Interpretation of the Poster

You can give your personal opinion about the poster in this section. What did you like about what you saw? Was there anything unpleasant in the poster that you studied? You can also judge if the poster was successful in transmitting its intended message to the target audience.

The following expressions can be used:

• The poster succeeds in…
• The poster’s message is clear.
• The poster manages to convince the target audience.
• The poster is convincing…
• The poster is effective because…
• This is a clever poster…
• This poster is original and it appeals to…
• The poster manages to grab our attention.
• The poster is simple and memorable.
• The poster is sexist, racist…
• The poster highlights…
• We cannot fail to notice…
• The slogan catches our attention…
• The tagline is effective since…
• The poster grabs our attention…
• The poster fails to convince us …
• The poster’s arguments are weak…
• The poster sends multiple messages…
• The poster’s messages are contradictory.
• The poster promotes violence/racism/sexism/…
• The poster is too sensual for…
• The picture in the poster does not correspond to the product or service that is being sold.
• The poster is overly graphic.
• The poster offends a certain group of people (religious, gender, racial, etc).
• The poster is offensive.
• The poster’s message is unclear.

Sample Description

‘How to Heal a Continent of HIV/AIDS‘ is a striking health awareness and militant poster by Ricardo Levins Morales. It can be found in digital and printed form on the artist’s website https://www.rlmartstudio.com. The poster aims to provide solutions to the problem of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and the resulting AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). The target audience of this poster might be both African and Western governments who are responsible for implementing health, educational and economic policies in Africa.

What immediately strikes us in the centre of the poster is the ailing figure of the African continent, represented by a caring and devoted mother tending to her sickly child. The header on the top reinforces the urgency of the message. It ominously reads: ‘How to heal a continent of HIV/AIDS’. It seems to have been handwritten by a despairing person and the red colour is reminiscent of blood. AIDS, the deadly syndrome that has claimed the lives of millions of people across the continent, is given prominence by the size and form of its letters. It is the enemy to fight. The centre-aligned tagline at the bottom of the poster: ‘Put people first!’ urges leaders to act with its no-nonsense message and emotive exclamation mark. Act! THERE IS NO MORE TIME TO LOSE!

The colours of the poster are dull and sombre. Besides, the old and unassuming parchment paper strips the message of any trivialities. The artist is focusing on essentials that he lays bare in the bottom half of the poster ⁠— ‘Speak openly; fund mass education; devote global resources; achieve universal access to medicines; remove the suffocating debt; guarantee universal access to condoms; support economic renewal and provide compassionate support to the affected. The earthly and green colours in both the skin, the outerwear and the food remind us of how the continent can be nurturing and sustaining. Africa should not be abandoned and left to wither. It has the potential to rise up from the dust and become a fully-functioning member of the global scene.

The mother has a humble posture but she remains stoic when faced with adversity. She does not have eye contact with the viewer because she is focusing on the difficult and demanding task at hand — saving her terminally-ill child. This implies that she does not have time to look for money or proper medicine that might effectively heal her child. The African continent, whom she exemplifies, is in the same dire straits. The carers viz. mothers, doctors, nurses, faith healers and traditional healers are busy fighting to reduce the effects of this scourge that they do not have the time to look for resources that will put this agonising problem to an end. Leaders, in all their strength and might, should thus come to the rescue of those in need by providing the necessary remedies and making sure that the epidemic is curbed through appropriate preventive measures.

I think that this poster is efficient. The message is clear and uncluttered. We immediately understand what is at stake. It does not beat about the bush! The artist manages to paint a bleak picture of the state of the continent without dehumanising its characters. The mother is not begging and asking us to throw money at her in a fit of pity. This poster strikes our emotional chords but does not leave us helpless. Solutions are provided and we are somehow relieved that if we do the right thing, the continent is not that hopeless. We discern that leaders MUST act, and so MUST we, in order to restore the beauty and health of the cradle of mankind that is Africa!

Your Turn: Try to find a poster that you can describe fully. Use appropriate vocabulary and be as descriptive as possible. Don’t forget the interpretation. Good luck!

Further Exploration: (Describe a poster)

Download Worksheet:

• How to Describe a Poster, White Background. Learn English With Africa, December 2019
• How to Describe a Poster, (Colour), Learn English With Africa, December 2019

Read:

• English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 4- How to Describe an Advert With Accuracy
• English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 3- How to Describe a Drawing Easily
• English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 2-How to Describe a Painting Thoroughly, November 2019
• English Vocabulary (Describing Pictures): Lesson 1-How to Describe a Photograph in Detail, November 2019
• Picture Description Vocabulary, Learn English With Africa, November 2015
• Vocabulary for Expressing Opinions, Learn English With Africa, November 2018

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