Storytime with a view

The poster that I created was for a weekly, nature-themed children's reading event at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Because of its proximity to campus and having visited it before, I thought to look to the Gardens for inspiration for an event and found this recurring one coming up in the spring. As someone who loves both nature, reading, and education, it was the perfect event to highlight.

"Storytime in the Garden" is a weekly event that will take place at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens on Thursdays, March 4 through April 29. It is one of the few weekly events still going on at the gardens due to the pandemic causing most to close, and will be taking place outdoors in the gardens themselves to encourage adherence to COVID-19 health and safety measures.

I approached the design knowing that I wanted to use natural, nature-inspired colors across all elements, and that I also wanted to keep the theme light. Because of this, I wound up using green, beige, and white shades for the background, text, and visual aids.

For the text itself, I used two complimentary fonts — one that was sans serif (Barlow SemiCondensed) and another that was serif (Lora). By choosing complimentary fonts and using the serif font for the title, it made it clear to the viewer where their eyes were supposed to go first. The funnel-shape of the text going down the page also drew the eye downward.

Although I have created event posters and signs before, it is not an easy process, which I knew going into this design. Creating a proper eye flow while also including the relevant information is tricky; luckily, the digital age makes it so that most events have websites that poster-viewers can be directed to for more information, which I took advantage of when trying to keep text to a minimum.

My intended audience for the poster is parents and caregivers of young children, hence the use of light colors and simple imagery. Had I used dark colors and a more visually-overwhelming display, it would have deterred parents looking for a calming afternoon event to take their children to. Instead, I made use of light colors and a minimalist design to communicate to viewers that this was a simple, calm, and inviting event.

While I intended to use a simple design and executed that well, in hindsight I still believe that I could have used design elements that were a bit more eye-catching than those I implemented. For instance, I could have included more nature elements into the art, such as a butterfly, or used a pleasant photograph of the gardens. Despite this, I believe that I still produced an appropriate poster design for the event.