Reflection 2 - Drake Manalo

Reflection #2 (Chapters 7-9):

Deconstructing an advertisement is not something that I have thought of with regards to working on an ad. The book makes the analogy of advertising as storytelling, and I feel that it is an awesome way to look at the world of ads. Everyday we see many advertisements, and one way that we connect with them is by recognizing the story within the ad. There is a relationship between ad and viewer that has to be acknowledged, and an ad becomes effective by creating a narrative. 

Alongside storytelling, the book introduces the idea of transformation and persuasion. We want to persuade our target audience to do something and to do this effectively we need to think about how we can make the message easily understood while at the same time encouraging the audience (with comes about in the three forms discussed by the text). Throughout all of the advertisements I have viewed, I never recognized the many approaches that the ads take. The book goes in-depth about all of these approaches, which provide a way to inspire new ways to go about creating an ad. Personally, I feel that the approach of misdirection is very effective - especially since our first project has to do with spoof ads. Our generation relates well to a satiric feel, and in doing so becomes an effective way to realize what the audience is attracted to.

As a graphic design major, I have recognized the importance in the typeface chosen. Whether the audience recognizes it or not, a typeface can make or break an ad. It can give a certain message simply based on the "feel" of itself alone. There is also extreme importance in the hierarchy of an advertisement - which is mostly brought upon by the typography within it. The book chose an ad campaign for the 2008 Cleveland International Film Festival - REPRESENT CLEVELAND! - but I think the typography used is effective because it integrates the idea of what the film festival is about through its usage of color and typography. I feel that typography helps an advertisement (or any work of art with graphic design) flow, and the flow of a composition is completely necessary to one, grab the viewer's attention and two, make it easy for the viewer to understand what they are seeing. 

Going along with the texts usage of film festivals, I chose to include a video created by Digital Kitchen for the Sundance Film Festival. This video integrates typography and graphic design in an intriguing way to share a narrative. The very beginning has the word "STORIES..." that sets the tone for the entire video. Then, the animation begins and as a viewer I was definitely inclined to keep watching to see what was going to happen next. The visual elements create a composition that create movement that the viewer does not have to even think about where to focus his attention.