Relay

The relay for life project was really such an eye opener for me in regards to advertising. It gave the class a really good idea and look into what it is like in a real ad agency. It was a real life experience of the process. Just as in Public Service Advertising encouraging people to join forces for the war, our job was to mobilize people to help the fight against cancer. Just as the war posters during World War II were used to educate the public on the role that they play in the effort, our print media is used as a way to show the public that they can help fight cancer. The article mentions how work for Public service advertising is on a volunteer basis with the understanding that both the public and the volunteers gain something from it. I really feel that I gained a great deal of experience on how advertising works, thus I gained something from making my posters and in making the poster, the public gained a good and service. My final project turned out as this:



I think that while my poster was decent, I think that it could have turned out a lot better. The biggest obstacle I came across was that my partner and I thought we were waiting on a logo because we couldn't find it posted anywhere. But as it turned out, it was another layer behind a separate logo. So, I didn't see the logo until the final day of the project and had to try to incorporate it into the style of the poster which I had already created. I don't feel that my poster has many strong points apart from how well it correlates with the pirate theme. On that same note, though, the pirate theme detracts from the relay for life theme which is important.

Signifier & Signified.

Signifier: Red Cross symbol.
Signified: Relief aid to those in need.

Signifier: Japanese flag.
Signified: The country of Japan needed aid in their time of trauma.

Signifier: The color white.
Signified: In asian cultures, the color white represents death so the color in this case could signify the deaths caused by the traumatic events taking place there now.

Signifier: The color red.
Signified: The color red is the color of blood which is associated with energy and courage. So the color in this case signifies the courage of those in Japan going through such a hard time. It also signifies the dangers which are associated with the events in Japan.

Signifier: The hands holding the sign.
Signified: The hands holding the sign in this poster signifies the efforts of so many people to help Japan currently. If people put forth the work of their hands, a lot of help can be given.

Changes?

Upon receiving the assignment to make a cell-phone ad for tweens, I thought: "Should be simple enough!" But as it turns out, it isn't quite so simple. My initial thought which I tried to stick behind for the whole campaign was individuality. To me, it's important to emphasize individuality among young, impressionable tweens. So, I knew I wanted the ads to be loud and speak out. I also wanted to ensure that the typeface was one which would catch the attention of someone 9-13 years old. I think that's essential. So here was the result and my criticisms:

Boy Phone:
While I liked how this turned out, I feel like the color type of the logo contrasts too much with the color of the background. I feel like it looks very crowded so in the future i would probably lower the logo a bit to space the layout better. Also, when looking back, the images aren't the greatest match for a Gamer magazine. So next time, I would choose my images more wisely and not necessarily focus on the target audience quite SO much.


Girl Phone:
Of the campaign, this ad was my favorite. In wanting to capture the essence of individuality, i feel like the vibrance of the color in contrast to the scale of the girls does a good job of expressing individuality. i also really liked fading the color of the jacket to the image of the colors. There are a few things I would change about the add though. The contrast of the phone colors to the rainbow image is very distracting. Also, in each ad, i applied different colors to the logo which i would change next time. Next time I would have all the logos on the same color scheme. I also feel like I should have incorporated the phone more into the ad instead of just placing it there.


Phone for Both:
If I were to redo this ad, the one major change i would make would be to stick with the original feathers for the peacock. What I did here was crop out the original feathers while retaining the circular part and replaced them with images of smaller feathers and changed the color scale. Upon realization, though, i see that the original feathers not only took away from the "individuality" aspect i wanted of the whole campaign but also downplayed the natural colors of the peacock which would have added to the advertisment.

Wilderness Downtown.

I'm not sure if this is necessarily considered advertising, but everyone should check out this site if they haven't already! It's awesome, really great graphics. It's essentially an interactive music video used to promote the products of google. It's really fun to use, too!

Be Stupid?

It's so hard for me to choose my favorite ad campaign, but I think after narrowing it down, i'd have to go with Diesel's "Be Stupid" campaign. I think it's really inspiring in a creative sense. The two most prominent quotes from the campaign are "Smart Critiques, Stupid Creates" and "Smart may have the brains, but stupid has the balls". I think the campaign is very appealing to younger audiences and inspiring them to not care so much what other people think and to live their life to the fullest. I like the simplicity of the font they use in the images, also. The photographs used are very fun and creative and colorful. I think mostly, to me, it gives a feeling of individuality and chaos. It speaks to the viewers and tells them to just live and the campaign does that in a creative way. I love the product, and I love the campaign.

Here's a link to the campaign site: Click me!

And here are some images! Enjoy!