Your Posters Suck Because You're Lazy

Your Posters Suck Because You're Lazy and What to do about it

[@enjoful]

Watching a designer putting white text over a white background telling me I'm lazy

[@harshitheya]

😂😂

[@jmg9509]

Same thing I was saying lmaoooo

[@GhostyLowks]

😂😅🎯

[@credgar3076]

😂😂 Nailed it!

[@waxmaster-c]

Lazy designers chose aesthetics and trends over ideas

[@aryamansinghgaharwar]

i fucking hate your pfp spent two minute trying to scrape it off

[@joeclay4700]

lol

[@waxmaster-c]

@@joeclay4700 ?

[@AyushRedkar99]

hell no, corporatizing design caused that

[@naeemashaari]

I legit thought there was a scratch on my laptop screen.

[@brownswarm]

Nobody in my life tells me i’m lazy even though i know i am, i just need someone telling me all the time. I’m gonna watch this video every day

[@siheedsalaam4712]

Definitely humbling💯😭😭😂

[@VictoryXR]

I’m not lazy but every one tells me that I am. At every job I’ve ever had, I’ve done 20-33% more work than anyone else on my team. But god forbid I am exhausted from a 15 hour work day and need to take a break. 🥱😮‍💨😪

[@xwnoq6912]

oh man everyone in my life tells me im lazy its so tiring i hate it, just demotivates me

[@sadepennbrook]

Lmao! You think like me. I might fight you in the beginning, but internally I’m agreeing.

[@philphilphil]

My strategy with design is to 'chip away' at it. It takes a long time, but eventually, you reach a point where you are content with it, where it 'feels right'.

[@bigmistqke]

Oof that white type over the window is a choice

[@StudioPractice1]

I agree with you… I’m away from my studio… and working with what equipment I have. That shit is bad.

[@kumada84]

​@@StudioPractice1 Then put the text on the side that isn't white

[@lobstermash]

So - I guess my confusion arises from the fact that what you call posters I would call prints. They are created as artworks, not as advertisements, and therefore they communicate entirely differently. ? Yes I'm old. I used to have the Paris 1968 posters. Simple but punchy.

[@dune3231]

"The root cause of this laziness in design is a desire on the part of the designer for the poster to make the desired perceptual magic on its own, by itself" - You nailed it, this should be framed and hung on the walls of every design school

[@richardbaker2701]

I love your view on art and design. I thrive on negative reinforcement sometimes and it’s so good to have a stern and intelligent voice in a space that is saturated by quick and easy tutorials and “it’s all good man just express yourself”. You lend credibility to our discipline

[@imagenarchitecture9821]

No pain, no game. Love this guy and this channel. Thanks

[@StudioPractice1]

🙏

[@oama2009]

Do something to stand out. Do not do what everyone else is doing.

[@waxmaster-c]

More people should learn this.

[@elsuperfish]

I have known so many people that needed this video driven into their brains, the fact that you have refined this message to such a pure and concise state speaks to how often you've had to repeat it. Hopefully I can avoid a few future arguments by linking this video instead. Thank you.

[@danapickens]

You are so helpful! Throw away my 2years of design school. You just summed up 10 years of exploration in design and understanding. You have Great verbage hat brings understanding. I could actually share this with others knowing they would get quite a boost in their design process! Sharing your channel. Thank you!

[@pnwlady]

I am grateful for people like you sharing experiential knowledge for free online. Seriously, thank you.

[@ares8553]

I'm a millennial and I felt like writing a long-winded, cliché comment about how sad and revolting the potential necessity of such an epilogue is. How incompatible it is (being PERSONALLY offended over an abstraction made to solidify a point) with the psyche and spirit of a "true artist" and how the defanging of speech and ideas has created an oversaturated market of imitation and infantilized banality in design and art in general. Instead I'm just gonna tell you that "your shit" is inspiring and - for those who are in tune with what you're saying - potentially life-changing in the best of ways. You're a phenomenal teacher and communicator. Greetings from Athens.

[@StudioPractice1]

Hey hey… LOLz. ❤️ The epilogue was/is a joke. I think it’s funny because it IS true. I routinely get roasted by millennials because I’m not being *compassionate enough, or because my *tone is insensitive, or because I’m being “critical”. LOLZ… WHATEVER. In most instances it’s just weaponized empathy. They’re just weaponizing empathy in order in insulate themselves from criticism. 👹 😉

[@ares8553]

@StudioPractice1 OH it's absolutely true and no amount of offense taken and grilling people calling us out will change it. We have our excuses (and a few valid reasons) as a generation for being this way but it IS objectively a fault no matter how much copium we inhale. "Weaponized empathy" is a really clever term and 100% on the money, Elliott. Victim mentality is a bitch of a "drug" to kick...

[@catianamunoz5655]

As a Millennial, I thank you for sharing your honest knowledge with us. We are bombarded with trends that harbor very low standards of designs and I feel as though many of us designers have gotten lost in the process.

[@StudioPractice1]

🙏

[@ACPH568]

This is amazing advice for all artists!! You just put into words what I’ve been trying to for years, and I truly thank you for that

[@PixelChomp]

I love the direct communication in your videos! Thank you for pushing and inspiring.

[@juderose1826]

This was so good, although I'm GenX who's been through it, so harsh truths don't phase me. The goal is to level up, not to be coddled. Your videos are much appreciated!

[@supernigro1]

The last ten seconds... you sir, are a comedic genius 😂

[@StudioPractice1]

🙏 comedy = truth. ❤️

[@FauxNoir]

I greatly appreciate your direction and insights, a stern and hard nosed approach is best when correcting errors in my opinion.

[@peetmose]

Another great vid and I love your point at the end detailing the paradox of length of time/“effort” spent on a project commensurate to one’s experience. It was well communicated for a tricky point - thanks for all your effort - it’s always appreciated

[@focusonthefocus]

Keep up the tough love. Well said.

[@Desuetus]

As a non designer, I really like big letter canonical posters. Clarity is beautiful. Artistic posters sacrifice readability, which I consider a much bigger failure than banality.

[@respobabs]

Same. What a bad video

[@lobstermash]

Yes, especially if I'm moving past quickly, maybe driving past. If the poster maker puts too much work into the poster I'm not going to put the work into trying to read it. On the other hand a poster which is intended to be put on the wall as an artwork isn't really a poster - it's not about catching attention and communicating a message in a second or two.

[@rairon3131]

You like it but do you remember a specific poster?!!!! Prolly not and that's a huge problem.

[@Desuetus]

@@rairon3131 Why would I remember a specific poster? It advertises an event, once the event passes it's useless information.

[@bigdeadanimals]

Starting designer myself. Really love your approach to teaching.

[@ananda1758]

UPLOADED AT THE PERFECT TIME. I NEED THIS. Thank you, my beautiful sir.

[@willmakesfilms]

I found the discussion of the canonical set fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

[@idontbelonghereanymore6834]

Some very good points the drive to use assets people unknowingly fall into patterns you really see this in local scenes anywhere you go there is always a very particular aesthetic and visual language. It’s hard to look at yourself and your work from an outside perspective. Thank you this applies to all art though your insights are helpful to hear❤

[@michaelkelly60]

This video is lucid and right on the money.

[@UnoUrong]

Thanks for the info!!! If one learns about design principles, graphic principles/elements, curiosity, some courage, the most obvious do's and don't... OBSERVATION... mixed with knowing the customer and what the result needs to be in terms of function and message... and branding... and AUDIENCE. One will then have what they need to have fun "creating". Repeat every time and improve by simplifying the design process by making it more personalized and not scripted like when coming out of school.

[@YourfriendRaymond]

I really enjoy your work I've seen since stumbling on your channel. I thought you might like to know that the Japanese character style font you had after the 5 canonical one is totally unreadable to me because I'm dyslexic. It looks cool as hell besides that. I figured you probably would like to be told. Hope you have a great day 🤠

[@Artist_Ryker]

Needed this one. Thanks.

[@freeky3090]

sharing this with my students!!! thanks elliott :) hope you're having a nice time... where ever you are....!

[@StudioPractice1]

Thanks doing well

[@tannervote]

What is going on with all these random pictures flying in and out? It looks a middle schoolers PowerPoint presentation from like 2010.

[@orinnoco2919]

excellent... love the last bit LOL!!!

[@Wormsandconditions]

Overall this is a fantastic video. I would LOVE to see you address more of the psychological underpinnings of design, I immensely enjoyed this. Had a bit of commentary I could not resist giving: 6:16 - I wonder often if this Gestalt principle in particular is based from gathering food and detecting adversarial organisms within it. For example, what you've shown could be a mite amongst the burnt food left near a fires edge the night before, or a single berry sitting in mud. Or perhaps even just a poisonous bug in the mud you were about to step on. What do you think? 10:41 - I could not help myself. - "My work should look like mine" Your work here literally looks like you in this video, I mean that in the nicest way possible btw. Like just look at this list: -Clear skin -Bit of shadow on half the face -Big purple ellipsoid-esque objects in the centre of the face -Straight teeth -The post like object to your left -The vertical text to the characters right seems to form its own corner between the two lines, akin to the walls of the room you're in -Big ears (I literally have the same size ears as you, I swear)

[@TomasSamper]

The principles being applied from beginning to end is a "subtle" way of showing how they work.

[@4SacredHearts]

Great video. Where do you recommend getting a hard "board" poster printed? STAPLES has foam. Shutterfly doesn't have size I want, 36" x 24". I made a poster that I want guests to be able to write on the back, and won't bend. Thanks

[@DrLazerbeam]

I'm not a graphic designer anymore but I enjoyed your lecture. I'd like to know and perhaps this is beneath you, is how do graphic designers maintain their artistic integrity when doing work for people who aren't artists? The reason I don't do it anymore is because even if I put a great deal of effort into a plumbers flyer or a logo for another coffee shop that wasn't gonna be there in 8 months, I simply wouldn't care enough about what I was making for it to be worth doing. And clients don't want high atomistic concepts and they do want shortcuts. 99% of graphic design ever produced is corporate. So maybe the reason my posters suck is because graphic design sucks because artists shouldn't be making adverts and that's what they got us doing. I know I'm answering a lot of my own questions here but it's all coming back to me. I say we destroy graphic design. We would rewrite the earth if we only produced things that weren't designed to direct you to something else. I hope I burn in hell

[@NikkoTanGoogle]

Insightful and sensitive! Thank you Elliot

[@Cami54554]

I really value this insight , as simple as the root of the cause is , laziness results in boring art

[@louisefelix_]

love this!! thanks for sharing!!

[@thisismirul]

Thank you, needed this.

[@demystify1567]

Zoomer reporting in. The incendiary language is welcome.

[@itsdachief]

This video was really dope. The one poster I’ve got hanging in my room is a 1987 Milton Glaser poster for the Fulbright association (I was lucky enough to find a signed copy, RIP) It’s an unbelievably simple poster, but it has so much charm. I think of it as a reminder to not overthink the complexity of the message; making someone smile or laugh with a clearly communicated design can often do the trick

[@joshuakuhowski]

Wish you could copy text on mobile

[@nmwspam]

A perfect way to start the week. Thank you!

[@StudioPractice1]

Welcome

[@Shiftysunshine]

Thank you! I really learned a lot from this one

[@chrsbll]

Great essay. Subscribed.

[@alex199273]

The sad part is the you subconsciously know too 😭 Thanks for reminding me, I need it

[@boudewyn]

The contrast at 0:38 sucks because you're lazy. 😉

[@MattsDT]

Well I've always had this fear of being like too specific. That I should mainsteam flatten more to be a better designer. At least I know that I'm not lazy, and I put my most intent in the pieces I want. Now I'd have to learn basic shapes lol

[@NeilMyatt]

I like this channel - the brutal slap around the face in every video is what I need. But at the risk of being a troll - I feel like the message about strong design and use of typography would be much stronger if the video overlays didn’t SUCK like someone’s been delving in the clip art bin and found all the crap at the bottom. Now hit me again

[@StudioPractice1]

I agree.

[@kumada84]

That's not being a troll. If you're going to tell other people how to design things that look good but you put bare white text over a white background so it's unreadable...and you're going to tell people their "bad" designs are due to laziness but you don't kern around the apostrophe in the text on the thumbnail.... I'm honestly concerned that there aren't more people pointing these things out in the comments, TBH.

[@angelbear_og]

@@kumada84 Begone, gamma. He doesn't put them up in post, and he already said he's not in his usual studio. The presentation was not designed for that space. Suck it up, buttercup, and move on.

[@aldrintan8230]

MFA quality design lecture. Ty sir

[@Jonesrful]

Refreshing stuff. Keep it up.

[@StudioPractice1]

Thanks 🙏

[@Krunchezy]

100% dont hold back lol Designers need the blunt criticism, my design skills have always advanced when around harsh blunt design critiques.

[@quintrandle2393]

So so so so good!

[@almac8840]

Helvetica is the laziest typeface of all.

[@StudioPractice1]

Lolz. Tell that to Experimental Jet Set. LOL

[@david_arthur_brown]

Orange - the phone company - created outstanding, iconic, stand out communications, in the late 1990's using Helvetica (neue) and two colours (Orange and Black), lots of space and not much else. They revitalised the creative use of Helvetica and were responsible for opening the eyes of a generation of designers. It's not what you do; it's the way that you do it.

[@StudioPractice1]

In the video I acknowledge that there are a lot of exceptions to this idea. Sounds like this is one of them

[@DikshitSukhdeep]

Project Projects: 😐

[@StudioPractice1]

@DikshitSukhdeep i don’t know their work

[@fotocube]

Great talk. My question is about generative art. It can be as unusual as it can be, but does it guarantee a good image in the result due to you unusual concept?

[@currentphonograph7487]

How did you know my poster sucks & I'm lazy

[@gbrl_cyber]

Good Morning, Elliot. ☕️

[@najowhit]

you gotta do the work - simple as

[@raghidaalhamedi7524]

I love this man so much

[@StudioPractice1]

Me too (lol)

[@vivekjagtap5327]

Many tools were created for convenience but in the end they made people lazy!

[@peckerdecker]

It's now 2024 Hollywood Will release at least 800 movie posters for each film this year. Now - *How many film posters have you brought* ? *How many* of These movie posters _have caught your eye And made your mind tingle_ ? Answer *0* These mainstream designers are *lazy* or Just incompetent* Solution _make your own artwork_ Thank you

[@kenyangulotta3845]

#studiopractice a few thoughts about this vid. But first a little context about me, I’m an interdisciplinary artist that make his home in art, graphic design, apparel design. Professionally active since 98. While I’m definitely understanding and agreeing with your point of view, but it’s the structure and presentation of your view that are perplexing counter points to what you are saying. The visuals seem counter productive, not equal to your stance, but rather than enforce your view. I would have loved to see examples of poster designs that illustrate and fortify your position. Furthermore, you show examples of you’re your work - and your illustrations are dope! - but in composition, in a graphic design perspective the text gets lost. This seems to go against what the vid is about. My most sincere advice is back up your arguments in a way that leaves no doubt in regards to your perspective. Otherwise I’m looking forward to your next KZbin upload.

[@richardhall5489]

Your canonical set is not the same as Elliot's cannonical set. My canonical set is not the same as yours. On the other hand my Canonical set was just a single Hi-8 camcorder as I preferred Nikon and Sony.

[@binsworth]

I really appreciate your videos but I wish you would be more consistent with adding shadows to your white text that falls over highlights because man is it ever difficult for me to read it when I’m also trying to pay attention to your words

[@StudioPractice1]

Hey. I agree. I shouldn’t make excuses. I’m out of my main studio at our summer house/studio and experimenting with new equipment. That shit looks terrible I agree

[@StudioPractice1]

(Sorry)

[@david_arthur_brown]

@@StudioPractice1 And those pictures... says map - picture of map, says move the viewer - picture of crowd, Says canonical - picture of canon... it's all a bit unnecessary and, to me at least, distracting.

[@Gorpisnorb]

Toy Machine logo

[@Landekar]

OK bro

[@whitegroyper]

bro used an actual photo of poop

[@brandinglab100]

Wow.

[@ambrosiatea]

Banger. Thanks. Also I'm a totally offended millennial 😂

[@charlesbrown4689]

this guy must be pretty lazy

[@VictoryXR]

Incorrect. My poster sucks because I have no talent.

[@gbrl_cyber]

Probably not true but funny af

[@mcateerdesign]

talent means nothing, being born naturally gifted in something only goes so far, most great designers get there through hard work, study and deconstruction

[@user-id2vl2qg6s]

im new designer im too early to understand this.This guys work and thing talking about its advanced level stuff tho

[@28isagreatnumber]

As I understand it, he’s mostly trying to say that a lot of posters online (Instagram and in the world) are very similar looking. A way to avoid or escape this trap is to work hard on your craft. By making things that look or function differently than others’ works.

[@alooooooo.wav.]

I'm also a new designer, but I felt that this was precisely the thing I needed to hear at this stage. In order for us to learn good design, we have to understand the purpose of good design, which is to encourage people to look or feel something, or at least to pay attention to it. This video explains how to do that really well.... I think that the terminology seems foreign but the concepts themselves are easy to understand.

[@kumada84]

Since you guys are new designers, let me give you two tips - don't put white text over a white background, and don't just blindly listen to people who use lots of big words and fancy terminology. Actually, I have a third tip - don't worry so much about making things that look like things other people have made, because that's going to happen no matter what you do. Figure out what you think looks good. Look at things other people have made and try to figure out why you do or do not like them. Accept that you're going to look back at the things you make later and wish you had done things differently. And don't try so hard to do things "differently" from everybody else that you end up losing what makes your stuff look like your stuff.

[@kumada84]

​@@alooooooo.wav."Good design" is about making sure the design doesn't get in the way of people's understanding of what it is you're trying to get them to understand - e.g., not putting white text on a white background, making it impossible for people to read it. If the thing you're making has words on it and people are supposed to read the words, you have to make the words actually be readable. That's the most important thing. Getting somebody to look at something doesn't matter if they don't understand what it is they're looking at.

[@kumada84]

(unless them not understanding what they're looking at is your intention, of course 👀)

[@sauravchaudhary997]

Hey man. I can't read the white text on top of the window.

[@StudioPractice1]

I know. My apologies. I’m a ya from my proper studio at our summer home/studio and have a provisional recording set up. It looks bad. I should’ve re-shot

[@sauravchaudhary997]

@@StudioPractice1 you've created the channel I've been looking for for years... You never need to apologise🥹 but yeah maybe add subtitles there

[@xiiixviiiw]

I make a lot of money with big type posters 😂😂😂

[@redmirror4012]

but you still suck

[@teriyakiriceboy1243]

i enjoy your videos, but feel like ill only understand everything you're saying once im 40 and washed

[@enna4998]

Same lmaooo

[@joshuakuhowski]

Watch later note: Video shows posters from 10:14-12:42.

[@joshuakuhowski]

Oh shit. 10:15 11:15 12:05

[@joshuakuhowski]

Oh fuck it’s all his work, what a snake oil salesman

[@joshuakuhowski]

It’s all his work what a snake oil salesman

[@joshuakuhowski]

Comment read: 1987 Milton Glaser poster for Fulbright association

[@StudioPractice1]

@joshuakuhowski you paying attention bruv? You ok??? Maybe turn off one of your other screens when watching.

[@desmckenzie526]

The "factors" that, in your mind, could (and often do) contribute to a poor poster design outlined throughout this video are valid and multitudinous... a veritable shopping list of what to do right (or wrong) but without, at each moment you describe a new "factor" or "criteria", showing examples of poster designs that succeed in such "factors" (perhaps followed by poster designs that do not) and breaking down how each example does or does not succeed.... I find your shopping list completely ambiguous, hence of no utility whatsoever. Example: Timestamp 0:45 "The construction of specific and unusual image spaces" surely has a meaning in your mind. Without showing examples of what you consider "specific and unusual image spaces" and perhaps examples of posters that both succeed and fail to feature such spaces (and actually point to them man... don't just go "here they are"... point the damn things out) means that precisely what you consider a "specific and unusual image space" will remain an unknown to others (including myself*), simply a statement with no way for the viewer to know whether their poster design is devoid of these "specific and unusual image spaces" The examples you show (ten minutes in) you simply "show". You do not point to or visually highlight areas and describe how they fit your criteria and which areas fit which of the numerous criteria you listed in the first ten minutes - this is of no use to me - abstract, ambiguous. The time spent collecting (and removing the backgrounds from) clipart images of vacuum cleaners, hockey players and the like would have been better served finding examples to unpack thereby giving people context and demonstration of your criteria rather than just your list of criteria and no way of knowing what those criteria (your terms) actually mean. * As a designer of more than three decades, of all people, this should have been easy for ME to interpret your meaning... I could not...

[@StudioPractice1]

Those are all fair points.

[@etherneedle]

Here within the first hour

[@etherneedle]

Crazy I’m not even subscribed KZbin is pushing your videos aggressively

[@bulvaDesign]

Bit lazy video editing tho.

[@StudioPractice1]

Agreed

[@joshuakuhowski]

This video is slow on 2x speed

[@joshuakuhowski]

Bad video design padded for 10 min watch time. Wish he discussed poster examples instead of reading a heady script with shitty waste of time graphics. Could have made the video in less than 1/4 of the time it took to do all these graphics

[@aldiergreen]

your momma is lazy

[@humairanaeempasha2362]

Wow everything you say makes so much sense. Keep these videos coming they're gold! 🥲