Italy Travel Poster

[Shumway]

For my graphic design class, I have to make a travel poster for an assigned country. My country is Italy, and my primary idea was soccer. I steered away from gondolas or the tower of pisa since they've been done a lot of times. Anywho, here's what I've got. The first is roughly based off of the national team, but not entirely accurate. The 2nd is based off of Juventus...almost exactly. Which one is working better in your opinion?

Oh, if you didn't figure it out, the blue thing's a silhouette of the colosseum.

[Shmee]

They look great. They really do. Great illustrations.

But it doesn't feel like a travel poster. Most Americans are not fans of the beautiful game, and most Americans who visit Italy will probably will not be attending games of either the national team or Juve. That's why I don't think it really says "visit Italy" to me.

The blue silhouette isn't really easily identifiable as the Coliseum unless you realize that it's one decaying building, not an entire skyline, especially when it's mostly hidden behind the player's head. If you want things to advertise that are distinctly Italian and more touristy than soccer, I'd suggest checking out a few things like the San Remo Festival, maybe something Olympics related as the winter games just finished, the annual Carnevale celebrations, maybe Etna and Vesuvius also. There's a lot of Italian stuff you could advertise that isn't cliche by now. You might have a lot of fun with something related to the San Remo festival. It's an annual event held to find the best new song for that year. Musicians from all different genres enter and it draws people from all over Europe and other parts of the world. It's a huge event over there.

[Shumway]

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to switch my whole idea. I'm not liking the colosseum in the background right now, I might scrap it and put something else in the background(a net/goalie possibly). I also have to toy around with the "Italy" a bit also.

[Natsfan36]

i know you dont want to, but that would be a good place to put maybe the leaning tower..or maybe some pizza!!!

[Shumway]

i know you dont want to, but that would be a good place to put maybe the leaning tower..or maybe some pizza!!!

It's not that I'm opposed to different ideas, it's just that I don't have time to start over.

[illinirox1]

If I had to pick one of these, I would go for the blue player. It's a classier look on a nice looking poster, and the Juventus red player didn't seem to fit with my eyes. I like the concept, but agree with Shmee too: the background is vague. A goal might work there. I don't see a problem with a soccer travel poster, because I've seen them before, and this is pretty darn nice looking. Good work.

[Larry013]

I agree that most Americans won't identify with the team Italia colors or Juve's (Thank God! FORZA VIOLA!) Anyhow, how about using a red shirt, green shorts, and a wite stripe down the side. Americans probably would associate the red, white and green with Italy.

[CC97]

I don't have time, unfortunately, ATM to provide any decent C&C, but I will say that the first thing I thought of when seeing these images was that they were stamps... the uniform number looks like the cost of the stamp, and the country name obviously the stamp's country.

But hey, you used the old Jays font.

[rmackman]

As far as traveling goes, I don't think of soccer when I think of Italy. More people go to northern Italy for skiing than to go see soccer. A lot of people think of the great leather shops in Italy if they're big into shopping. Pizza is Italian, but I don't know if you've ever had pizza in Italy...it's completely different than American pizza. They don't use pepperoni, they use prociuto (sp?), the sauce and the cheese are different too. You can't really use sports to attract people to visit your country because most people who travel are going for the culture, history, language, shopping, and food. I would recommend using wine instead of pizza. Italians love wine, and they do have very good wine. They love to celebrate there. Saying COME TO ITALY with a picture of soccer and pizza is like saying COME TO AMERICA with football and beer.

[Islesfan]

I agree with most posts in that the Coliseum is difficult to see as I didn't really notice it. I do like the font you used for Italy and the use of a soccer player is okay however I saw it as a poster for a game or something like that. Colorwise I would choose the red jersey as it pops more from the dark blue Coliseum. In other words the colors are too close together in the blue player to quickly make him out. I would suggest, as someone did earlier, to keep the red jersey and change the shorts to white and the socks to green to identify the Italian flag. On the whole though, I give it a 9 out of 10.

[Shumway]

For those wondering, we had our preliminary critique this evening. The professor said similar things about the coloseum part. He mentioned putting some reference to the columns in it. I might try that, and make it semi transparent. I have to play around with that.

Apparently he liked my work though, considering he just walked by and said "God damn!" and patted me on the back. He made me put my work apart from the rest of the classes when we put them on the board.

[pcgd]

Take a look at old travel posters. You have an outstanding illustration here. I think putting it into photoshop and giving it that 50's era art deco travel poster look would put this over the top. Mainly to do that, you'll want some more contrast, a little texture, and some (gasp!) gradients.

Here's some examples:

I did a google search for these. There are plenty of books that focus on that era and style, or you can go to a poster site and search art deco, travel, vintage travel and find quite a few more.

It looks great as is, but it was the first thing I thought of.

[Shumway]

Take a look at old travel posters.  You have an outstanding illustration here.  I think putting it into photoshop and giving it that 50's era art deco travel poster look would put this over the top.  Mainly to do that, you'll want some more contrast, a little texture, and some (gasp!) gradients.

Here's some examples:

I did a google search for these.  There are plenty of books that focus on that era and style, or you can go to a poster site and search art deco, travel, vintage travel and find quite a few more.

It looks great as is, but it was the first thing I thought of.

We actually aren't allowed to use photoshop on the assignment. I hate photoshop personally, but I agree it probably would help out a lot. The objective of the project is to basically give an image depth by using simple shapes.

My professor actually showed us all 3 of those posters as examples.

[Shumway]

Bumping this thread after nearly 9 months.

I got bored a week or so ago and edited this to look more like the Italian team during this year's World Cup. I might end up making a poster out of this, but I'm a little stuck on certain parts, and I think other eyes might help me out.

Here's basically what I'm stuck with:

- The negative space between the colosseum and the right edge. Should I just run the colosseum off the edge? Obviously, I'll crop the colosseum to fit the size of the poster.

- The numbers - I traced them off of a poor-quality internet picture

- Is the old Jays font at the bottom working?

- The uniforms, minus the lack of sock striping, are they correct?

Any other comments are appreciated.

Edit: Added the World Cup patch on the sleeve and some indication of the columns to the left of the player. I'm having a hell of a time trying to get the gradient right for the "stripes" on the back of the jersey, although I'm tempted to leave them as I have it now.

[kc51design]

the numbers are Ok, apart tht number 1 has the same thin line going a top of 1 as a top of 0.

The world cup patch on the sleve, and even the shorts logo is too much detail for such a simple poster.

Yes, Italylays sometimes in all blue, but usualy they have white shorts.

I would make cletes black, yes there is blue spikes, but black is more common.

Don't run the coloseum out of borders, cause it will lose the detail that makes him recognizable at first sight, just take it a little bit in, and leave some yellow on the right edge.

Font is OK, sure you can experiment a little more.

As much as I hate gradient, in your poster gradient will help get some depth (darker green close to coloseum, and lighter green on the bottom)...

[georgie6543]

I like it, but if you use the world cup patch, you might want to use the world cup ball. But i couldn't find any problem with the numbers or the font.

[cappital92]

As far as traveling goes, I don't think of soccer when I think of Italy. More people go to northern Italy for skiing than to go see soccer. A lot of people think of the great leather shops in Italy if they're big into shopping. Pizza is Italian, but I don't know if you've ever had pizza in Italy...it's completely different than American pizza. They don't use pepperoni, they use prociuto (sp?), the sauce and the cheese are different too. You can't really use sports to attract people to visit your country because most people who travel are going for the culture, history, language, shopping, and food. I would recommend using wine instead of pizza. Italians love wine, and they do have very good wine. They love to celebrate there. Saying COME TO ITALY with a picture of soccer and pizza is like saying COME TO AMERICA with football and beer.

You also have pizza bianca,which is just pizza with no cheese or sauce,but olive oil and sea salt scattered on it.It's great!

Bumping this thread after nearly 9 months.

I got bored a week or so ago and edited this to look more like the Italian team during this year's World Cup. I might end up making a poster out of this, but I'm a little stuck on certain parts, and I think other eyes might help me out.

Here's basically what I'm stuck with:

- The negative space between the colosseum and the right edge. Should I just run the colosseum off the edge? Obviously, I'll crop the colosseum to fit the size of the poster.

- The numbers - I traced them off of a poor-quality internet picture

- Is the old Jays font at the bottom working?

- The uniforms, minus the lack of sock striping, are they correct?

Any other comments are appreciated.

Edit: Added the World Cup patch on the sleeve and some indication of the columns to the left of the player. I'm having a hell of a time trying to get the gradient right for the "stripes" on the back of the jersey, although I'm tempted to leave them as I have it now.

Forza Azurri! Champoni Del Mondo! It looks great,but add a net.

[zig]

Bumping this thread after nearly 9 months.

I got bored a week or so ago and edited this to look more like the Italian team during this year's World Cup. I might end up making a poster out of this, but I'm a little stuck on certain parts, and I think other eyes might help me out.

Here's basically what I'm stuck with:

- The negative space between the colosseum and the right edge. Should I just run the colosseum off the edge? Obviously, I'll crop the colosseum to fit the size of the poster.

- The numbers - I traced them off of a poor-quality internet picture

- Is the old Jays font at the bottom working?

- The uniforms, minus the lack of sock striping, are they correct?

Any other comments are appreciated.

Edit: Added the World Cup patch on the sleeve and some indication of the columns to the left of the player. I'm having a hell of a time trying to get the gradient right for the "stripes" on the back of the jersey, although I'm tempted to leave them as I have it now.

I'd actually go with the generic uniform than with the uniform that Italy used this world cup. I like the background for your newest one best but I feel it would be better with this soccer player

I really like this poster and that is my only complaint

Also keep the Jay's font because it look great

[andrewharrington]

More contrast would do this well. It's a good way to create depth and interest in an illustration like this. Arguably the greatest poster artist of the times, Michael Schwab has a great handle on the interaction of contrast, form, and type using the simplest of shapes.

www.michaelschwab.com

[Shumway]

Thanks for the input. I've changed a few things, which I'll post the update once I fix the rest. Here's some responses to some suggestions/what I've changed.

- I made the blue monochrome uniforms basically because they're the ones they wore in the final game, plus they're the only ones I could find a picture of. If anyone has a picture of the white jersey, I might give that a whirl.

- I had the spikes as black initially, and was playing around with colors...I've put them back now.

- I probably won't work with gradients...I just don't like to use them.

- I put shadowing on the ball, as well as on the player's knee and side.

Tempest, by more contrast, are you suggesting changing the uniform colors, or just making the shadows and highlights darker and lighter?