Bad Posters

Geneva is awash in posters, hanging above street level and along sidewalks where they can be seen by passing cars.

If the goal is to communicate, most of them fail miserably.

Here's some examples and why:

Even if you are stopped at a long traffic light, there is no way you can read what the 8 museums are and even less chance to see what is written under them. If you are local, you might recognize the buildings. The poster would make a good pamphlet.

What is this promoting? I do love vegetables but only with this photo, did I realize that they may be found somewhere in Carouge and even that wouldn't be easily visible unless parked nearby or stopping on the street to read. I do not have enough information to act on. The photo is appetizing though and made me a bit hungry.

This was a good reminder that I need to buy a new coffee pot, but nothing else in the poster gives me any information. I have no idea what it is about. Nice colors.

This poster was on a street corner. White type on orange is almost invisible from a distance, hard to read close up, especially the smaller type. As for the design, I haven't a clue what it is about.

Again, this would be better as a pamphlet, but as a poster, unless someone could stop and take notes, useless for a quick gathering of information.

I love the show Starmania, but we had to be stopped at a traffic light several times before I could see the dates and that it was at the Arena. I still have no idea what it says at the bottom.

 

I defy anyone driving by to know what this poster is trying to tell them. White type is next to always hard to read unless its large type on a very, very, very dark background.

Nichola Mulder is a force. How wonderful for him. Some dates show when he'll be a force. But where? Somewhere in Geneva, Switzerland, the planet?

Too much information impossible to read unless I stood in front of it and then probably would need to take notes. I suppose if I knew of the festival, I could go home to look it up on the internet, if I remembered.

As a professional communicator (journalism, marketing, PR) for most of my career, the goal was to communicate. Put yourself in the reader's mind and then write or design, three different mentors beat into my head.