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RedPost/Goshen: Politics/religion ok, over-verbage NOT

I just sent this email to all RedPost/Goshen users:

We just updated the poster guidelines for RedPost/Goshen, making two changes:

Political and religious events are now accepted, IF they incorporate some sort of arts/educational/cultural component
I can’t really think of any good reason not to accept political/religious events, so we’re opening it up a bit. We still reserve the right to deny any poster submission.

Posters must have 40 words or less
This has gotten really bad as of late, with one poster having 68 words and another pushing 50.

  • Viewers have 10 seconds to “get” your poster.
  • If you have 68 words, they have to read 6.8 words per second.
  • The average reader reads 200 words a minute and comprehends 60% of those.
  • In 10 seconds, the average reader can comprehend 20 words. We’re letting you put 40 on, so don’t complain.
  • Posters should communicate visually, with minimal words.

Here are some examples of good, visual posters:
http://www.theredpost.com/goshen/posts/113.jpg
http://www.theredpost.com/goshen/posts/121.jpg <– this is great!
http://www.theredpost.com/goshen/posts/46.jpg
http://www.theredpost.com/goshen/posts/89.jpg
http://www.theredpost.com/goshen/posts/88.jpg <– also great
http://www.theredpost.com/goshen/posts/49.jpg

View the full guidelines here:
http://www.theredpost.com/goshen/guidelines.php

Please email/call us with any questions or concerns. Thanks for supporting the Arts in Goshen!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2007 @ 2:49 pm on the category Good Data, Neighborhoods, Soap Box. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Phil--I would add that not only should you think about being across the room, but being distracted and having 2 seconds to get your attention.
  • My two cents:

    A looong time ago, when I was in tech theater conservatory, our scenography prof gave us
    words of advice I try to remember when I'm putting a poster together. In a nutshell:

    when making a sign for the stage, imagine you're trying to read it from across a parking lot.

    So, when making a sign for a RedPost display, I imagine people are trying to read it from
    across a hallway, across the sales floor, across a large room. When I'm putting a RedPoster together,
    I try to remember to display it at full screen size, then walk several feet away and take a look. I've
    often gone back and reworked RedPosters that look great up close, but are a jumbled mess from
    a distance. The text might be too small, might blend into the background, or be too "thin" to discern.
    The image might be too busy or confusing. I try to find a balance were the text compliments the image.
    And if I keep on writing, I'll think I'm writing something really profound, so I'll quit right here! :-p

    -Phil
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