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A poster with no information on it—an unusual move, considering it’s an informational poster. But when the task is to create promotional materials for an AIGA lecture series targeted at an audience of designers, predictable solutions need not apply. “There’s a lot of pressure when you have to design for your peers,” says Allan Espiritu, cofounder of gdloft. “Will they find the design too clichéd? Is it too expected? Does it communicate? Is it challenging enough?”

Certainly this poster is a challenge: It meets the viewer’s gaze with a blank stare. Yet the hot process colors and playful use of graphic design vocabulary soften the seriousness of its challenge: Behind the deadpan stare lurks a wink. The style subverts expectations and uses humor to provoke and prolong interaction with the piece.

The game also plays out in the choice that recipients have to make when displaying the poster. Do they choose the visually intriguing side that says nothing or the practical side with all of the information? When it comes to form versus function, which side are designers really on? “For the most part,” says Espiritu, “AIGA members really liked the visual side.” by Maia Wright

gdloft | Art Director: Allan Espiritu | Designers: Allan Espiritu, Matthew Bednarik | Client: AIGA Philadelphia | Contact: www.gdloft.com