Assignment 1: Analyzing Ads

Billboard Ads: Balance
The composition of both of these ads is unbalanced. In each example, the design is weighted to right side of the billboard—and intentionally so. The girl's Lonestar State shorts are intended to draw the eye to the right side of the first billboard, and in the second, the billboard is emphasizing this unbalanced weighting so heavily that the board itself is even weighted to the right. It seems to be illustrating an unbalanced scale to prompt weight loss—effective and memorable.

10Steps.sg

10Steps.sg

Subway Ad: Direction
So, this Mad Men season 5 ad is originally just the falling man, which illustrates direction by drawing your eye on a linear trajectory as the body heads downward to the right. The ad is also a great example of using a great deal of white space to draw the eye to the falling man and to the premiere date: March 25.

I've also attached the subway ad below, which was 'enhanced' using graffiti art of an image of Superman coming in to save the day. I think, in this case, the graffiti actually enhances this element of direction, as now the two images appear set to collide on their given trajectories, leading the eye upwards and to the left.

Season 5 ad

Season 5 ad with graffiti art

Online Ad: Repetition
For this ad, which was to promote a boyband competition in the U.K., sponsored by Coca Cola, the online ad uses an element of repetition to illustrate the three potential competition winners. But what made this ad truly special for me (and which is difficult to illustrate on this blogging software) is the interactivity of this ad. Users can pull the levers (as advertised in the bottom corner) to get rid of each of the boys, who then plummet down through the trap doors that each are standing on, thereby eliminating the repetitive design element in a piecemeal fashion.

Adage.com

Print Ad: Symmetry and Contrast
This is an ad that I came across in my most recent issue of Glamour. I loved the symmetry of this image: centering the lips in the middle of the bag, highlighting them with a bold red shade (a contrast to the porcelain face and blue background), and balancing the rest of the page so that the lips take center (excuse the pun) stage.

Because the page (and the face they are illustrating) is symmetrical, the ad seems particularly stable. Although Lupton believes that "symmetry does not hold the audience's attention"—and maybe this only grabbed mine because I was looking for specific style elements—I actually like how clean and precise this ad is, especially opposed to other beauty ads, which tend to busy up the page with images of products, multiple people, etc.

Glamour, March 2013

Print Ad: White Space
Another great example of an ad utilizing white space, this Volkswagen ad combines elements of size and space to illustrate just how small their new car really is. The text and "Think Small." caption seem large in comparison to the illustration of the car itself, which is effective in prompting the viewer to imagine just how small the car really would be for them. The large expanse of white space, with an image only taking up the tiniest part of the top corner, likewise serves to reinforce this idea even further.

Google Images