Poster Layout Research

Grid Layout
The Grid Layout is similar to a table layout in Web design. This is where you divide the ground into equal ly‐sized rectangles or squares. These blocks and their tangent points represent areas where you want to place your elements. For example, a simple quadrant layout can help you to centre the point of interest and then you can add other elements that create a more asymmetrical layout:

The poster to the left shows the two movie stars placed equidistant from the middle vertical line. They’re also both facing toward the centre line at about a 45 degree angle. This angle echoes the sky above the horizontal line and the bowling alley lanes below that horizontal line. All the darker elements – in this case a bowling alley – are placed below the horizontal line, and the lightest element in this poster – a white light – is placed behind John Goodman exactly on that horizontal halfway point.
The poster to the right displays the stars in a circle that symbolizes a golf course hole. They’re placed smack‐dab in the middle of this poster, and other elements are placed almost equally both above and below the horizontal line. The only elements that deny this poster a symmetrical layout are the golf flag and the landscape that’s evident above the horizontal line.
Another way to use the quadrants would be to place one or more elements within one or all four quadrants. This layout has been used often to represent the four seasons.

Rule of Thirds Layout
The rule of thirds represents a refined and classic grid layout. This rule states that an image can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally‐spaced horizontal lines and two equally‐spaced vertical lines. The four points formed by the intersections of these lines can be used to focus on your main elements, or the boxes formed by the lines can provide the spaces for your elements:

Here we have both a current and a vintage poster to show that this layout has been used for a long time. In the poster to the left, the faces of the stars are placed within the rectangles created by the gridlines. The fourth face, the skull, is split almost in half by the bottom horizontal line. Notice that Dep’s face placement is similar to the ACDC headline – his face extends down beyond the topmost horizontal line. This size adds balance to the overall layout and makes Dep’s face prominent among all the elements.
The Vogue layout is created exactly along the rule of thirds grid lines. The top and bottom grids fit within and across the top and bottom rectangles. The yellow‐clad figure is almost centred along the left vertical grid line, and her activity – looking at herself in a mirror – is contained within the two top middle rectangles.

The “Z” Layout
The “Z” layout is a popular design layout borrowed from advertising. In most print advertisements, the elements that must be included in the ad are the headline and the company name and the logo. These elements are often placed at the top and bottom of an ad, where the logo provides a stopping point for the eye and leads it back into the page. Think “Zorro.”

http://eetwagga.riverinainstitute.wikispaces.net/file/view/Poster+Composition.pdf