In this flyer designed by Nick Allport,  there are many problems with the placement of the text. To start off, all the text has been put underneath the illustration, so it looks almost like the sports car is about to fall on top of it.  I'm not a huge fan of the font that was used for the headliner.  From a distance it is  hard to read and each letter looks like it was smashed against the other, so the tracking really needs to be adjusted.  Besides the location of the headliner the text around it is hardly legible. It is so small that I can't tell what kind of font it is.  While this is a scaled down image of the poster it is still a good example of what you would see from a distance. The small font over and underneath the headliner is creating a sandwich effect which makes the design even worse.  The green and brown on the car look good but the background color is awful.  It is the kind of shade that my color theory teacher would refer to as a baby poop color.  Another problem with this design is that there is so much empty space, especially at the bottom of the page, and the illustration and the text look like they are floating in mid air. There is also a border around the page which makes everything seem like it has been boxed in.  The illustration is good, and it would look a lot better if it were at the bottom of the page with the text above it.  The background color should be changed to something more appealing.  If the font was enlarged and readjusted this design could be much better.

Why is it so hard for designers to put text in a format that is easy for the viewer to read? It appears that Dan Keezer, the creator of this poster decided to use text wrap.  It took me a while to find all the information because all the words are broken as they move around the shapes.  Someone would need to work really hard to get all the information read, and it is questionable as to whether or not most people would be willing to stop and put in the time to try and read this.  It looks like the designer was going for a retro/patriotic look, and while the colors are fine, I just don't like the way that this poster is set up.  The cassette tape is sitting right over what I am pretty sure are the headliners, and while it is see through, it only makes the text beneath it harder to read.  I still don't understand why the designer wanted to use text wrap.  In the end, it looks like an attempt at a cool effect that was accomplished through lazy means.

Some posters aren't very creative and don't always depict a creative description of what the client wants, but this poster seems to do a good job of describing the title. It was innovative idea of the designer, Kenton Quatman, to make a radio look as if it had hatched out of an egg.  While I like the illustration this is another one of those instances where I don't like the way the font was arranged.  As usual the smallest font always seems to end up at the bottom of the page, underneath the heaviest text and illustration.  This is an easy fix, and the poster would probably look far more interesting if everything wasn't centered.  The bird and its nest could be moved to the lower left corner of the page and the smaller font could be moved and rearranged so that it isn't centered like that.  The title is fine, and it seems to be the only text on the page that wasn't centered perfectly which Is good.

This poster designed by Lizandro Fertz is eye catching and could definitely hold its own in a fighting match. I like that the headliner is overlapping the mask.  This helps add interest and helps the piece stand out.  I don't like how the text bellow the headliner is all perfectly centered.  It would help the design if some of this font was rearranged so that the text doesn't create a jagged edge, and was lined up a little better.  There is a good amount of movement in the piece as the text seems to move hear and there.  The mask however seems to remain strong and stationary.  The illustration is simple but it does the job.  The font arrangement could use some work.  It isn't good that the smallest font is at the bottom of the page.  it seems as though it is being crushed underneath the larger text. It is also interesting that the font is consistent until you reach the very bottom and then it changes.  This isn't necessarily bad, because it helps the e-mail to stand out, but it might be better if it was put at the top of the page.

This is another one of those gig posters that has a really cool illustration, but the typography just wasn't done right.  The designer, Jonathan Fasulo created a really pretty vector illustration, and the colors he chose look really good against the black background.  He used the trail of a bumble bee to create the name of the headliner.  This of course, is very hard to read, and seems to be shrinking into the background.  The font is so hard to read that I still don't know what the name of the headliner is.  He put the location and time at the very bottom of the page in itty bitty print, and he put them up against the plants so they are even harder to see.  The poster would look better if the font size and type were changed and moved up into that big black empty space on the left side of the page.  The illustration is wonderful, but the font just isn't good.

This poster designed by Lizz Farhat is both creative and captivating.  It would stand out well because of the text, colors and illustration.  The headless horseman on the front cover is awesome to look at and I like how the designer has the illustration overlapping the text at the top of the page. I don't really like that the e-mail was put at a ninety degree angle up the left side of the page, and I'm sure it could be incorporated somewhere else.  The supporting act shouldn't be sandwiched in between the headliners name and it would probably look a lot better sitting on top of the headliner.  It is good that the designer strayed away from using text boxes.  The only other thing that might be fixed is that the text is so close to the edge of the page.  Other than these thing this is a wonderful design.

I'm not really sure who designed this poster but I'm not a huge fan of this design.  It is very modern, sharp, and there is something almost unsettling about the illustration.  It looks almost like a sculpture that you would see on a street somewhere in Baltimore city.  This is another one of those instances where the placement of text wasn't well thought out.  The headliner stands out but it should definitely be bigger.  As usual it bothers me that designers think they can put text at a ninety degree angle and have a final product that is easy for the viewer to read.  You could still use the background but it would help for the font to be enlarged.  I don't really like the color scheme because the colors are extremely dull, especially the background color. With a color change and new text placement this gig poster could look better.

Designer Benjamin Acevedo has done a wonderful job of creating an interesting and well thought out gig poster. The whole thing is so convincing as a aged comic book cover, and all the information has been arranged to fit the theme perfectly.  The designer even did a barcode!  All the font is easy to read, and all the colors work well together.  Some of the text is boxed in, but in this case it actually looks good. I like how the headliner looks slightly three dimensional so that it stands out even more among the rest of the information.  Making some of the text red adds a lot of interest and helps the poster stand out even more.  The poster would automatically stand out for someone who likes to read comics, and even those who don't.

I actually like this poster, designed by Ariana Abud.  There is a lot of empty space at the top of the page and it might be good if the headliner had been put up there.  The background is beautiful and it looks like it was hand painted, but not a lot of thought went into the placement of the text.  The designer used the gradient from the top of the page to make the headliner stand out against the mountain.  You could reverse this effect and make the text stand out against the sky.  It would add a more interest if the artist hadn't used center alignment.  I love the colors because they are eye catching and captivating, plus the illustration gives the illusion of depth.

This gig poster was also created by Adam Abeyta, and while I like it more that the last poster of his that I reviewed, it does need work. I like his color scheme because pastels tend to be more relaxing to look at, and these particular colors work very well together.  This designer seems to be very fond of water marks, and while I can see that he was trying to give the water a feeling of depth it might be easier to read if all the water marks of repeated text weren't in the background.  The font is fine but the information and the band names are not arranged well.  It takes a while to figure out which title is separate from another because the text is all mashed together in that one space.  It would probably help to move the information to the empty spaces outside of the purple area and leave the band names.  This way you could play around with colors and text spacing. I like the concept and the colors but the text arrangement needs work.

This is yet another design that I just don't like.  The artist, Adam Abeyta, seems to have some animals yelling the names of bands, and I can't even tell what kind of animals they are. This is because he transformed them into water marks. The picture frame is pretty but it doesn't really go with the text or the wild animals.  Using bright yellow as the background is eye catching but because yellow is one of the parent colors of green, the lighter green text and border almost look like they are being pulled back into the yellow.  All the text is the exact same size and some of it is overlapping slightly as it moves towards the corners of the page. The thing the bothers me most is the text that has been flipped upside down.  This makes it hard to read and confusing to look at.  With a color change and a reworking of text this could be better.

This design by Andrio Abero is creative and likeable.  I'm not sure why the designer chose a theme with bumble bees but that is probably because I am unfamiliar with the bands mentioned here. There isn't a whole lot of info to work with so space has been filled in an amusing sort of way.  The bees are all very large and don't look like they are capable of flying, but are still somehow suspended.  The text has been boxed in but this is one of the rare instances where this sort of thing actually works. If it were possible it might be better if the lines that box in the text were farther away from the text. The text would also stand out more if it were black instead of white.  Despite these little things, it is a good design.

This poster designed by Jessalyn Aaland is a crime against typography. The designer chose to use a collage effect by piecing together different pictures from what appears to be the 1950's. To top it all off, the pictures and the text have been placed on a horrendous, yellow background, Worst of all is the arrangement of text!  The white text on the yellow background is hardly legible and it is all over the place making it even harder to read. even if the text was black it wouldn't help this design to be any better.  There is also text in the triangles at the top of the page bit it looks broken and disconcerting because of all the colors and spaces between the letters.  The illustration at the bottom of the page is just to busy and is looks like the people are floating on the bright yellow background.  Unfortunately the same designer has created other monstrosities such as this.  Perhaps this poster and others like it were the result of client work, and perhaps this is what the client wanted.  I don't know what client would want this, but people never cease to amaze me.

This poster designed by James A. Holland reminds me of something out of the 60's, and I am trying to decide whether I like it or not. The only reason it give off a 60's vibe is because of all the pink flowers that are all over the place.  Other than that it seems almost like 80's/90's punk rock.  Despite everything being pink the illustration is actually pretty good.  The large font that was used for the name of the headliner is okay, but the small font that is above it looks like it is being smashed against the top of the poster. Furthermore, the font is so small that I can barely read it.  It looks like the designer used three different fonts, which is fine.  I don't like the arrangement of the font at the very bottom of the page. From far away it looks like a hamburger, and it looks like it is being consumed by all of the pink flowers.  The illustration takes up to much space leaving little room for the text.  It might also help if there was some color variation.

I like the concept that the designer Remi A. has put together here. The idea of making a gig poster look like a playing card is both creative and innovative.  The illustration is also very good, and flipping it upside down makes the poster interesting to look at.  Even the edges of the poster look worn, like those of a playing card.  While the illustration is good the typography of the poster is somewhat wanting.  In this instance you can get away with putting text in a box, because the box makes the poster look more like a playing card.  However, if you are going to use a box you shouldn't cram your text right up to the edges, and that is exactly what the designer did here. While I think the text is pretty I'm not a huge fan of it.  I can see why the designer used it though, and the poster is for a church function so it seems to serve its purpose well.  The poster could also be improved by arranging the text differently.  The way it is set up now it looks jagged as it moves from one side of the page to the other.  It also seems as though the text in the middle of the page is being sandwiched between the illustration and the bold print of the headliner.  While the design needs some work, I am still very fond of the concept.

This gig poster designed by Shaun A is aesthetically pleasing and the location of the text makes the composition even better.  The designer obviously wasn't given a whole lot of text to work with but they still made it work.  It is great that the headliner is so big but there is additional information above it.  this adds quite a bit of interest plus it helps pull the composition together.  The smaller text in the right hand corner also looks good, and it fills a space that would definitely need something if it were empty. The variation of the greens also creates a nice effect and almost gives the text a pattern.  There are some little things wrong with the text at the top of the page though.  The words "Fresh" and "Onlys" should be lined up, but "Onlys" is moved slightly to the right.  There is also to much space between the L and the Y in "Onlys", but this would be an easy fix.  I like how the information at the top of the page has been put at an angle instead of being perfectly centered. The text at the bottom of the page also stands out really well and The different shades of brown text for the location and date add some interest.  The illustration is also really good, and the choice of color is wonderful.   

I don't like this poster, designed by Benjamin Power. The colors are okay, but the composition just isn't good.  The headliners are trapped inside text bubbles and the fact that the designer added a stroke just makes the text seem even more cramped.  The text looks like it was hand drawn and the spacing between some of the letters isn't even, making the titles feel slightly broken.  I also dislike how the syllables in the headliner band names have been separated, making it hard to read them. I haven't heard of these bands before so I am going to assume there is a reason for such a peculiar illustration. The animal pictured here looks sickly, almost like it is dying, and there is something very disturbing about it. Because of all the scribbles, the background looks very messy and it makes the smaller text at the bottom of the page hard to read. The smaller text isn't spaced properly either.  If the background was just a solid purple and the names of the headliners weren't broken it would improve this poster quite a bit, but it would still need work.

I'm not very fond of this design. There is a unfortunate lack of text, and the design isn't all that great either.  The constant repetition of the bottles and skulls is far to monotonous and takes away from the general information and the name of the band. I like how the colors work together to create a mad scientist vibe.  It might look better if the black and the white were flipped so that the background is black and the skulls are white. The text for the headliner looks fine but there seems to be a stray skull and crossbones underneath the "e".  I think it is intentional, but it just ends up looking like a mistake.
I don't like how the text is trapped in a sea of skulls and bottles, and the general information is barely visible down in the lower right hand corner, and seems to be shrinking back.  The font has very little room to breathe.  Despite this posters horrible design, there are so many ways to make it look awesome.  Instead of using so many skulls and bottles, you could take one of each and enlarge them to fit the page or bleed off the page.  This would allow breathing room for the text.  With some work this poster could be pretty good.