Nuclear Survival Kit Ad

My ad will be a persuasive advertisement, targeting families with young parents (late 20's to early 30's).  They will be buying the kits for their children, with the idea that nuclear attack is a problem of the new generation that needs to be dealt with.  These are parents who are upper-middle class, young, hip and concerned about today's environmental issues and how they effect their young children.
I've decided on the slogan "One small kit, one big difference".  I think my ad will be for a parenting magazine and will use light-hearted images of kids and families playing.

Designing the Venice Beach Freak Show Poster

I chose Neville Brody as my designer and the compound modular/column grid for this poster design.  Made to fit in Vibe magazine, I was trying for a "mysterious" theme.  I wanted the poster to seem spooky without showing much information or even the entire background image.  In my hierarchy I wanted the slogan ("We've been expecting you") to be seen first, then the title (Venice Beach Freak Show), then the information (with address, website, etc.), and last the article.  I adjusted the colors of the background image to make them more saturated and changed the colors and directions of some of the type to make it more interesting.

Here was my first final poster that I showed in critique:

After critique I changed the color of "Freak Show" to a blue, to match the blue colors in the bottom right of the image. And I moved the "Info" box down.  Here is my final poster:

Venice Beach Freak Show

The Venice Beach Freak Show was fun, it was alot smaller than I expected it to be and they didn't want us to take pictures of some stuff there.  But it was an interesting visit, I saw lots of gross things and some things that looked really fake. Here's a few pictures I took, I'll probably use the first one for my poster.

Remaking a bad ad

I chose to redesign this ad rather than the one I chose before.

I thought that the composition was confusing and it was hard to see what the ad was selling at first.  So I fixed the alignment by centering the image, the logo and the paragraph of information.  I  thought that the logo “The Art of Clean”  should be the first thing the viewer sees, so they know what the ad is selling.  Second comes the picture, which shows what the product is.  Then third is the paragraph informing us about the product.  Then next is the company (Reach) logo, and last the coupon. 

Here are a few things I tried:

Good Ad

Here's my example of a good advertisement, or at least one that I like.  I like that the ad makes it clear what they are selling, and yet they don't make it the main focus of the picture.  I think that the composition looks very balanced, it's easy to look at. The viewer's eyes are automatically drawn to the model first, then later to her purse, whose color blends into her dress.  And the Calvin Klein logo is very clear on the purse, which I like. There is also alot of red in the photo, which catches the viewer's attention. All in all I think this is a very classy ad, the photo they chose for the ad tells enough of a story about the product that they don't need to add words, the lighting and color pallet work well and it makes me feel that there is something special and mysterious about their product and that it is of high quality and taste. 

Bad Ad

Here's my example of a bad advertisement (sorry that some of it was torn off).  There is nothing about this ad that makes me feel compelled to buy their product, or even to look at the image long enough to figure out what they're selling.  I think that the composition is confusing (especially with where they chose to place the words).  The image itself isn't very interesting, it's mostly shades of black and grey which is probably why I don't feel like stopping to look at it before turning the page.  And there's nothing about the photo of the bracelet they are advertising, or the photo of the model wearing them, that makes the product seem special or desirable in any way.  And even the phrase they used is confusing to me. The ad is supposed to be about love, which I'm guessing means the woman that the picture is focused on is in on a romantic trip with the man behind her.  But they don't seem to be in love, or even having a good time, or even together. Anyways, I think this is a really boring ad.

Why I'm taking Ad Design

I'm taking this class to improve the design skills that I use in my own current freelance work while I wait to transfer to art school in the Fall.  I'm excited to learn how to design advertisements, I love to look at what styles are becoming popular in ads.  I particularly love ads that have very simple and clean compositions, which I see being used more and more nowadays. I think I would enjoy designing ads as a career someday. Learning about what makes a good ad will also help me in my art: I'm always looking for ways to express my ideas that are interesting, appealing and accessible.  Learning how to create successful ads will help me learn how to catch my viewer's attention and interest.