Thursday, April 4, 2013

Reading Reflection Ch 7, 8 & 9 - MEADE

07: Approaches

It's important to know what's out there, been there done that, or cliché, before you try and attempt something 'new'. Keep in mind that the point of advertising is to persuade someone, to try and get you to combine your life with their product in a way that seems desirable. There are a variety of ways to go about being creative, a comparison ad, a demonstration being done in the ad, a solution to a problem, a story, using cartoons and more. Reading about the comparison section, I immediately thought about those toilet paper or pad commercials that show how one brand absorbs better than the other to get you to buy their product. 
(text reads: your heavy days are going down)

08: Typography and Visualization

"Facilitating reading" YES THANK YOU. While it may be obvious, type should be readable considering you're trying to get people to read, understand and do what you want them to. Making it even a little hard to read makes people just say 'NEXT' and move on. The 'general pointers' in the book are great to remember, as is the selecting the appropriate typeface. "A general rule is to restrict your designs to no more than two (or three) typefaces", good rule of thumb to remember. Looking at the "ThanksUSA" ads in the book, the one right in the center of page, I thought was pretty bad. The typeface seems overused, and while they chose an appropriate picture, the type covers the important aspects of it... 
I thought this typographic ad was pretty creative. It uses the ingredients involved with the product to create the text, makes it personal by bringing you (via the names) into it and it overall pretty clean and focused. 

09: Composition

Essentially composition is key, without it you don't have much of a coherent piece. The way in which the design is organizes conveys a meaning, that should help you, but can also hinder it. Balancing the components, establishing a visual hierarchy, achieving a unified aesthetic, establishing a rhythm of repetitive aspects, and keeping relationships between things are good things to keep in mind when designing an ad. Starting off with a grid might help at first. Looking at the Wisconsin Film Festival posters/ads on page 174 reminded me of this Beasts of the Southern Wild poster/ad. The poster utilizes some of the things talked about in the chapter. There is visual hierarchy, there's definitely a unified aesthetic to it, and while the balance seems a bit off, the composition is pretty strong.

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