Communication Design 2

Welcome to Erum's Design Journal. Here you will find critiques of ads/items that I have a strong positive or negative reaction to. Items from the graphic design, illustration and advertising fields will be blogged about.

[indefenseofart]

[erumcomdes-blog]

This ad is for the Van Gogh Museum Cafe. I really like how this ad challenges our art knowledge. Those who know about Van Gogh would understand this ad right away, however if you are less familiar you wouldn't understand. This cup is a ear handle-less cup because Van Gogh once cut off his ear and essentially that is what this ad represents. The concept of the simple cup sitting there with no handle helps the designs success. the intention of the object is clear.

March 15, 2013.

Post 50.

[fastforth-blog]

[erumcomdes-blog]

McDonald's large coffee ad. The message of this ad is clear, their coffee, LARGE coffee is now 1.50 euros. The exaggeration of this ad is what works best and catches the viewers attention. The imagery and idea of making it look like the earth touching the horizon line is very creative and is essentially what exaggerates their point. This ad is successful and like-able because of its down to earth, pun not intended, scenery. 

March 14, 2013.

[anotherdayinadvertising]

[erumcomdes-blog]

Ikea fixed prices poster by IKEA. This is a very creative way to promote the core idea of "FIXED" prices, their prices are so fixed, they'll never change. This ad is intended for people who shop for furniture and are looking for better deals. The ads are successful in terms of colour and simplicity and what really communicates the real message of this ad is the price. These ads have circles cut out and they were placed on "never changing numbers on the streets." This is a fun and engaging way to get attention from people passing by. The numbers that these posters were placed on were solid numbers that wouldn't change like house numbers. The overall concept and intention of the ad is very well thought out.

March 13, 2013

[creativlog]

[erumcomdes-blog]

This is an ad for Rabel Leave-in Hair Conditioner titled ”Leaves your hair silky and shiny.” This ad really pushes the idea of trust. You have to trust their product in order to brush your hair with that comb. This product will leave your hair so silky that not even these combs will tangel up in your hair. This ad is intended for women or anyone with long hair. The colours used are nice and fit with the idea. The simplicity of the ad aids in the design and the ad communicates the message really well. 

March 12, 2013.

Post 42.

[yiyinglu-blog]

[erumcomdes-blog]

These are by graphic designer Yiying Lu and they are from the Naive Series. They are basic images of animals at their most simplified form doing what they regularly do. The use of colour is really nice since there are bright vibrant colours and there aren't too many different colours (when you are looking at one). The exaggerated features and simplified features aid in the design. There are some really nice shapes seen in the structure of the animals.

March 11, 2013.

[yoannmichaux]

This ad is by Spot JWT, called "You can be someone’s superhero!" for Hellenic Association of Blood Donors 

I feel like the message behind this image is very deep. They use super hero's to represent a person saving someone's life. Since they used SpiderMan I feel as though this ad is targeted towards adults, young adults. The concept does communicate well however the elements seem a little awkward. The elements are not unified, maybe if they placed the blood pack hanging on an IV stand that you see in hospitals. The use of colour is really nice - that specific red fits perfect with both the blood and SpiderMan.

[erumcomdes-blog]

March 7, 2013

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

This ad is for Hanger Tea by Soon Mo Kang. This ad shows how this new design of tea bags is an easy way to hang your tea bag on the side of your mug. The target audience is adults and those who drink tea. This is a really creative way to get people to buy their tea simply because of the adorable design. You can see that a lot of thinking went into not only the tea bags but also the packaging for the tea bags - which is a small closet with a rack of other tea bags. The simplicity in the design is what makes it successful, all the elements work together. The colour of the hangers are aid in the simple design. Overall this design is very successful since all elements are working well together. 

March 8, 2013

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

Colours can change stories. An ad by Loja Comunicacao for C2A Print House. This ad is intended for people who print and want exact colours. This ad shows the importance of colour and colour being the RIGHT colour. If it is off by a little a LOT can go wrong. They exaggerate this concept so much so they get into life or death situations such as the bomb. So getting the right colour means a lot just like when defusing a bomb the colour really matters. The use of colour and imagery works well with the overall concept and idea of the ad. The message comes off clear.

March 6, 2013.

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

This is a unique way of promoting a product and making the rest look bad. You shouldn't use any other pair of knives or scissors other than FISKARS. This ad is for Fiskars Scissors & Knifes Ads by Cyberdurer titled "There can be only One." The simplicity is great because the focus is on the product which is very vibrantly coloured (this helps the design). This is intended for people who use these supplies on a daily basis and are looking for the best. This ad is successful because the message comes across really clearly and that is that there can only be ONE.

March 5, 2013.

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

This ad is by Jandl for Slovak Association of Dairy titled "Discover milk." This ad is intended for everyone, and is promoting the idea of healthy teeth. The imagery is quite successful and the use of a reflection can me read as the reflection of tomorrow. Reflection of tomorrow is that if you drink dairy to keep your teeth healthy you will have a healthy set of teeth. So the reflection of the milk glasses are put in a way that they shape a healthy set of teeth and the reflection can be used as a metaphor. This ad is also successful because of the use of colour - it looks very refreshing and clean - just the way your teeth should be. 

March 4, 2013.

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

This ad is for WWF by DDB&CO. It is saying that exploiting the ecosystem also threatens human lives. This ad is titled "For a living planet" and is intended for animal lovers. The use of imagery and visually showing what is happening to the animals that we think are scary. Those scary animals i they disappear that would more frightening. It means something is happening to our ecosystem, today these animals are gone and tomorrow it can be us if we don't take care of the ecosystem. This ad is successful because the concept clear to the viewer.

March 1, 2013.

[southafricasmostfashionable]

[erumcomdes-blog]

An ad for South African TV ad by BRANDED KULCHA titled "The cost of consumerism." This is a powerful ad with a powerful message. Very simple take on it which makes the message stronger. This ad is intended for everyone out there today. It says that people know the price of EVERYTHING and the value of NOTHING. Meaning people take things for granted and have lost the value of living life. There's a price on everything, people want the latest coolest gadgets. This ad really gives a reality check to a lot of people. The concept is simple however the intention is strong.

February 28, 2013.

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

International Short Film Festival Ads by Piko. This a very cute ad that is playing with the word "short" they took famous movies and took the main idea of the movie and shortened them. Example for titanic they took the ship and made it a mini ship. This ad is intended for movie lovers. The colours for all the ads work well. They are solid and simple objects that create a nice balance that goes well with the concept of the ads. Colour and shape really aid and help make these ads successful.

February 27, 2013

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

World Environment Day Ad by Valappila Communications. This ad is very disturbing because normally you wouldn't expect a tree to be pregnant or to have human hands or the other way around (a women having a tree-like stomach). This ad was made to get the message of mother nature out - people should care for mother nature because she births us with new trees and beautiful things in the environment. This ad is not that successful or interesting than it is disturbing. This may be because of the tree acting as a pregnant stomach.

February 26, 2013

[nevver]

[erumcomdes-blog]

Do something an ad by South African TV ads. This is a very powerful message sent out to people using Facebook (or any other social networking cite) which is the target audience. The placement of the type is not as successful as the type font choice. The words seem out of place and are not helping the ad. Though I like the message the poster ad itself is not that successful. Also the colours are not that great, that could be because it might have been posted for a while and the colours are warn out, if that is not the case then the choice of colours was poor. Brighter red and blue would have been better. The text should either be all in the middle or to one side - this could also aid in the design. The intention of getting this strong message out there was really nice.

February 25, 2013

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

Don’t let your food come back to haunt you. Pepto-Bismol Ads by Miami Ad School. These ads take things into literal form. When your stomach gets upset these things will haunt you (in your stomach). This is a creative approach to the idea, the concept is creative and the message is quite clear. This ad is intended for people with upset stomachs and people who eat out a lot. The simplicity of the poster is nice however some use of colour could have aided the design.

February 22, 2013

[yoannmichaux]

[erumcomdes-blog]

This ad is by Gitam for Office Depot. This is a really creative ad intended for people in the office. The message behind this ad is really funny. The Office Depot offers pens, which secretaries can use to write something to their boss. The Office Depot has paper shredding machine for the boss, who needs to rip up the secretaries note. Last but not least the Office depot also offers tape which is for the wife to use to tape up the shredded note from the secretary. This ad gets people thinking and putting the pieces to puzzle. The use of simple images aids in the design. This ad is successful even though the message isn't clear right away (it engages the viewer).

February 21, 2013.