A Library Banner Headline Reconsideration

Cutting out the banner, a single image print from the HP DesignJet 800.

Last week I received a request to create a large format banner, approximately 36 inches long. Along with the request came a headline to put on it: "Escape Into A Good Book." Okay, I thought. Cool...something to encourage readers to read that will take their minds off the troubles of everyday life and focus on a little adventure or some fantasy. Then, I read which library requested it: the JAIL. 


Our library district staffs a small outreach library for the population there, and I think that's a great idea. But I don't know if putting the word "escape" on a big sheet of paper in the jail is the way to go to when promoting anything there, for fear of giving someone the wrong idea. I mean, if we were promoting a collection of escapism books based on the theme of jailbreaks, such as The Great Escape, Escape From Alcatraz, Papillon, The Shawshank Redemption, Escape From Alcatraz, and Midnight Express, then maybe we'd be on the mark. But generally speaking, I don't know if "escape" would have been the best choice of words in that environment. 


I called the librarian to double-check. Sure enough, she might have had a brief notion about using the word, but the notion didn't really sound the alarm for her. I suggested some alternatives, and she agreed that the phrase "Get Into A Good Book" would serve her purpose just as well. I then sourced through my collection of images and clip art until I found a few elements I thought would work together nicely. It incorporated the headline text plus four images: a banner outline, its filler image, a man silhouette--which also used the same filler image--and a photo of an opened book. 


The image within the banner frame was the same as within the man. Because the book lay between the man and banner, the combination of using the radiating image in both the fore and backgrounds made for an interesting in / out push / pull between the two. The foreground man was getting into the book at the same time the background was getting into him. After completing, I sent it to the librarian for review. She liked it straight away, so I printed it out and sent it to her the very next day.

36x14 inch banner ready for shipping. Metal yard stick and X-acto blade not included.