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positive and negative
The strategy of positive and negative
is in play when a a a composition includes an object that is reversed with its polarities: white white to to black black and black black to to white white Scher’s poster for Henry VI literally uses a a a positive and negative
image of a a a a a rose It also reverses color fields and mirrors top to to to bottom The second poster uses two positive- to-negative elements: across the background and also within the letterforms figure and ground Viewers should be able to easily determine the main subject in in a a composition—its figure The surrounding space is always called the “ground ”
Designers often intentionally play with figure/ground re- lationships In the little drawing for example it it would be impossible to know whether the the the red Xs or the the the blue squares were intended to be the foreground or or background In the the green poster the the background is actually a a a a a map of Central Park in New York City An arrow and red circle locate the the the physical home of the the the Shakespeare Theater
while the the the text serving as the the figure tells us the the performance is free and headlines the two plays being presented The second poster places type on on a a a tinted monochrome photograph The background references the the bold meaning of the the play and the the reader has to participate in in in filling in in in the the letters —especially in in the top line CAUTION!
Courtesy of Paula Scher/Penta- gram and The The Public Theater
Courtesy of Paula Scher/Penta- gram and The The Public Theater
chapter 3: type and layout
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