Poster Design
Guard Dog Posters
A personal poster project exploring the emotional intensity of a guard dog through illustration, typography, and visual composition.
Year
2026
Category
Poster Design, Illustration, Typography, Visual Communication
Project Type
Personal project
My Role
Concept development, illustration, typography, composition, scanning, and digital editing.
Tools
Colored pencils, ink pens, charcoal, scanner, Adobe Photoshop
Project Overview
This personal poster project explores the motives and emotional intensity of a guard dog. The guiding words for the design were obsession and dedication, which shaped the visual direction of the posters.
I wanted to translate these qualities into a visual form through dog illustrations, expressive marks, strong contrast, and carefully considered composition. The project became an exploration of loyalty and instinct.
Design Direction
The design direction was built around the feeling of obsession and dedication. These ideas influenced the use of form, color, texture and visual rhythm throughout the posters. The dog illustrations became the foundation of the work, allowing the emotional theme to be expressed through posture and their expression.
The posters also include Japanese kanji as a visual and typographic element. I used this as an opportunity to practise designing with a language and writing system different from my own. It was important for me to explore how unfamiliar letterforms can be treated respectfully and shaped into a balanced visual composition.
Personal Reflection
As an athlete, I also connected personally with the themes of the project. The mindset of a guard dog — focused and motive driven — felt closely related to the mental discipline required in sport. Through the selected adjectives, the posters became not only a study of a guard dog's motives, but also a reflection of an athlete's mindset.
Process and Tools
The visual material was created using traditional drawing methods, including colored pencils, ink pens, and charcoal. I wanted the posters to have an expressive form, so the hand-drawn elements were an important part of the final visual language.
After creating the illustrations by hand, I scanned the drawings and edited them digitally in Adobe Photoshop. This process allowed me to refine the contrast, color, composition, and final poster layout while preserving the texture and energy of the original drawings.