Monday, April 23, 2012

Squeaks (from Iowa!)



This poster comes off like a slow-burning drama. It begins with a real heartbreaking punch -- that the bereaved lost their cat within days of moving to Portland, as if they didn't have enough going on in their life after relocating to a new city, and then proceeds to slow the pace down as they allow emotion to build up in the reader.

The details provided serve to show the reader how caring of owners they were, putting the reader in a "how-could-this-happen" mindset.

The slow-burn quality of this poster continues as we are given the final statement "we miss her so much". And, as if that statement wasn't saddening enough, the whole sentence is practically covered up by the "still missing" sticker that lets you know a second effort was put into this poster, because the initial effort of this saddened couple was not enough to bring back their poor, missing cat.

A real, classic never-win story.

Marcos, Part 2



There are clear visual improvements between Marcos, Part 1 and Marcos, Part 2, like relaunching a classic Disney movie in the updated CG style of the Pixar movies. The picture is a more detailed, and (likely) more accurate portrayal of the missing cat.

Much of the playfulness of Marcos, Part 1 has been replaced with more stern, and direct details, as if the director decided to take a more dramatic, and a touch darker, approach to Part 2.

The strangest part of this poster is the repeated details in clashing styles. At first, the bold lettered details are the most prevalent, but upon closer analysis, one notices the penciled-in details and supplementary information provided in a complete contrast of styles, as if to suggest the the same story is being told from 2 separate, though not entirely disimilar points of view.

Opus



Opus comes across like a classic mystery. From the get-go, the bold-lettered LOST provides the entire foundation for what is to come. From there, we are given detail after detail as more is slowly revealed about the missing cat.

While most missing cat posters tend to opt for the traditional method of posting a date in numbers (for example: 04/23/2012), Opus is worded very seriously, leaving the reader with a stern, cliffhanger ending, like having to read the sadness behind the stoic detective's eyes as the film fades to black and the credits begin to roll.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Submissions

The Missing Cat Poster Blog

Now accepting submissions!

Feel free to send us any intriguing missing cat posters you find on your travels. Review them yourself, or leave it to us!

Ali Baba, Part 2


The interesting thing about cat posters is that they almost always leave the viewer hanging, with no hope of a sequel. So, it is very rare to find a sequel to an already posted missing cat notice. Most owners opt to re-release the original poster.

Ali Baba, Part 2 adds an additional photo, as well as an extended narration, underscored with hints of desperation. The first line almost suggests a happy ending to Part 1, before reworking its way through the story and development of Ali Baba, to end on a sad note, revealing the continuation of the ongoing search viewers were introduced to in Part 1.

Part 2, though without color this time, ends on a lighter note, after the credits, as the hope and energy of the narrator shines through, leaving the viewer with a hopeful, though unfinished ending.

Ali Baba, Part 1


Ali Baba, Part 1 has a very dramatic nature to it.

The all capitalized letter "MISSING CAT" title at the top of the poster draws the reader's attention like a paperboy waving the new edition of the newspaper in the air, shouting "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"

Immediately following the title is a police profile style picture of the missing cat, followed by an all information text section, with little-to-no narration, and few descriptive embellishments.

The hints of color to highlight the eyes and collar of the feline, and additionally around the title and name are an unexpected addition, similar to the little touches of color in the bleak color-pallet of Schindler's List.

Marcos


This Marcos poster would be the cat poster equivalent of an animated children's film. It has a playful look to it with the hand-drawn picture, the coloring, and inconsistency in the font -- shifting from lower to upper case in a moment's notice and weaving between bubbly and stern letters.

The intensity of the poster also shifts from the beginning to the end, starting out very soft, friendly, and filled with descriptive narration, and ending in all capital, bold letters, choosing to shorten the word "please" to a much less personable "PLS".