Every year, Southeast Technical College hosts a portfolio show for the media communication majors to strut their stuff in front of potential employers. Every year, the graphic designers each design their own identity for the show and vote on which will be used.
We’ll be looking more in-depth at the table tent I designed and the inspirations I drew from.
Planning
We were given the option to design the table tent on either standard 8.5×11 or 11×17 paper. We will be folding these to be able to stand them up on tables around campus, so we have to think ahead about what our signs will look like. If we go with the standard paper size, each side of our tent will be square-ish, as opposed to the 11×17 paper, where each side would look more rectangular. I decided to use the standard 8.5×11-inch paper since I wanted a more square look.
The poster is the main basis for the media that will be put up/mailed out. We just resize and adjust as necessary.
Since we basically have 2 canvases to work with, I decided to use them to my advantage by upscaling the elements I wanted to use and putting them each on its own side. I liked this idea more than having the same poster on each side, where it would potentially be too small to read.
The portfolio show’s logo, along with the school’s logo, would go on its own side. Since we are promoting the show that will take center stage, we can make it huge.
The details of the event will go on the other side. Same deal here, where we can make it huge since it has its own side.
I decided against using the interlocking blue letterforms that are present in the poster. It would be too busy and not be a good background for the information. Instead, I designed this background made up of letters from the show’s logo. I used the same 50% tint present in the program book, which gives it a nice, subtle look but still ties in with the theme. The information is justified on both sides to give it a nice square look and is made to be the same width as the logo on the other side.