This "If you fly, we can't" poster from the US Forest Service was posted yesterday on r/dji. I commented, perhaps too crudely, that I wasn't a fan of the graphic design, and got downvoted to hell. The audience is drone operators and the objective is to keep drones away from forest fires. Here are the reasons that I don't think the graphic design is very good:

Mixing styles

  • The color, display font, the three lines between "you" and drone, and ribbon (behind "drones near wildfires are not safe") have the feel of an art deco poster. 
  • The helicopter and exclamation point are comic book style.
  • The house trees and fire are like vector illustration clipart.
  • Mix of drop shadow use.

Typography

  • For the display text at top, uneven spacing due to combination of the lack of kerning, ligature on the "we", and condensed "you." 
  • At the bottom, poor readability due to the thin all-caps.

General layout

  • Poor overall balance, e.g. layout in the drone and helicopter silhouettes.
  • The ribbon overhanging the border.
  • Unclear meaning of the three lines between the "you" and the drone image that slice through the image for no apparent reason. It's the most visually prominent object, but doesn't have a purpose that I can see.

Would you please tell me your thoughts on the graphic design?

Edit: I mistakenly marked this with sharing work instead of discussion flair. This is not my work. If a mod could change it to the correct flair, I'd appreciate it.

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