CRAP –> CONTRAST, REPETITION, ALIGNMENT, PROXIMITY
I chose the above three pieces to analyze in terms of what CRAP principles they embody.
The first piece, a movie poster for the film Drive. This poster embodies the contrast principal well with the silhouette around the figure and car. In addition the color contrast makes both the title typography as well as the scorpion really pop. While a minimalist poster there is repetition here too, quite simply the title acts is a sign which corresponds to the figure and car as the signifiers. When one sees the Drive typography they will immediately identify the figure in front of the car as the driver. As far as alignment goes, every element in the piece is justified to the center. Lastly the proximity of the title element, the tag-line and the scorpion all add to a easily understood aesthetically pleasing poster.
The second piece I chose is the poster for Melville’s iconic new wave noir: Le Samourai. The central element (Alain Delon) is in grey scale mounted on a white background so this poster does in some ways suffer from a lack of contrast. However the bold red typography stands strong and in opposition to Delon and the fact that the photograph itself has strong contrast does help it stand out. This piece does not have any extant repetition that stands out it could be argued it has some repetition in its symbolism. While the image a stoic man in a trench coat is not typically equated with a samurai, in this case the stoic and stern qualities which are often attributed to the samurai are present in the imagery. Irregardless of this, overall this piece is devoid of repetition. The alignment is strong and justified in the center of the image, the title stretches across the whole of the poster and the figure is centered beneath. Lastly the proximity too can be seen as a weak element in this piece being that the title hovers so far above the subject in question.
The third piece a vintage ad for the cigarette brand Viceroy. It is the oldest and I’d argue that of the three it follows the CRAP principles the most closely. It exposits a strong contrast between both the background and foreground as well as a between the text and it’s base. The repetition element is quite apparent in this advertisement being that the brand name is appears four times (the fourth is on the cigarette itself), in addition the use of the navy blue throughout all the text makes for a uniform aesthetic even with a change in typography between the speech bubble and the rest of the ad. The alignment fits with the rule of thirds quite readily as soon you appreciate the importance of the repeated brand name. However the alignment does suffer from the busyness of all the text that does not follow the logic of left to right reading. The proximity too suffers from this busyness as well in the same way.
Art Deco Examples then and Now:
1927:
Poster for Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi opus Metropolis
2012:
The banner for the 2012 adaptation of the Great Gatsby
Oldboymanchild 