Stilt walker offers free sandwich board advertising to RISC OS companies

On why the poster design isn't prettier: This is because it's designed to make people buy things, not simply to look good. These are not necessarily the same thing, and a lot of thought has gone into the designs. I don't know what you mean by not getting straight to the point: There is the lead-in bit to grab attention at the top, what it is in the middle, and how to buy at the bottom. Explaining to the layman what RISC OS / A9 is and why they should buy it could turn into an essay if put literally, so I can't put all that on a poster, but I would like suggestions on what they think "straight to the point" should mean. I have avoided Mb/MHz direct comparisons, as they are meaningless across processor families, and concentrated on what it can do where the PC etc is weak (ie, everything apart from internet use).

The contrast on the posters is sufficient when you look at the posters in real life. It doesn't show up properly in the photos for some reason, but then neither does the Currys.Digital sign, which is also very clear IRL.

If anyone would like to suggest alternative poster designs, I shall certainly consider them or elements of them for future use.

Anon on 9/1/09 12:10PM
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Yes, but the only adverts which actually work have a few vitally important things in common: not much text, clear design, simple colour scheme, and a *short* message which gets straight to the point. Look at any billboard advert currently on display for examples of this.

With the amount of (comparatively hard to read) text on the A9 poster, not to mention its small size compared to the 30-foot billboards around, I seriously doubt anyone walking or driving past would have time to notice much more than a man on stilts with a funny-coloured piece of cardboard strapped to him.

Adverts such as "Don't smoke" or "Buy this sofa" in massive lettering, black on white, in a clear typeface and with a single picture in the background, are far more effective. I'd suggest a similarly simple slogan such as "Treat yourself to a computer that works", a picture of the A9, and a link to a website where people whose interest is sufficiently aroused may find further information and all the geeky stats they could want, to peruse in their own time.

There's no point, as you say, writing an essay on a poster for the layman. The current poster is a visual essay.

I'd suggest having a read of the booklet which Richard Hallas (?) produced a few years back. I think it was sold via APDL. (Can someone correct me on this?)

tamias on 19/1/09 5:07PM
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