Joining an Ad Campaign

For this assignment, I had to find an ad campaign and create a new ad, using Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, that would fit in with the original campaign. I was then required to create 6 or more consistently designed slides (including transitional slides) to present my new ad and show how it fits in. The original ad needed to be well designed, have at least one line of text, and include the company logo. The new ad needed to match the original dimensions and look like it was from the same campaign. No copying and pasting of elements from the original ad was allowed. I found Audi’s “Leave your phone while you drive” campaign.

 

Original Ad

 

Original Design

The original ad has a centered road with leading lines that take your eye to the end of the road. You then notice the cell phone screen over the road and the deer’s hind quarters on the side. The implication is that an accident is about to occur because the driver was looking at his phone. In the lower right corner is a warning not to use your phone while you are driving. We also see the logo and a smaller message from Audi.

 

Original Typography & Color

In the original ad, the typography is a sans serif font, which lends to the seriousness of the warning. The white matches the lines in the road and ads contrast. The colors in the image are earthy and natural and feel calm and relaxing at first glance.

 

New Ad Design

For the new ad, I found an image of a centered road with leading lines surrounded by nice scenery. I copied the text messaging screen on my phone for the cell phone image. I chose a big horn sheep because the image reminds me of the Arizona desert.  I had to recreate Audi’s logo and my new warning message fits in with the original campaign. Here is a link to Audi’s official website.

 

New Ad Typography & Color

I used Source Sans Pro regular for the font because it looked similar to the original ad. The typography is white and the image has earthy colors that follow the theme of Audi’s campaign.

 

Conclusion

I had a hard time finding an ad to work with and I was excited to come across this Audi campaign. I knew it would give me the chance to use some of the skills I’ve learned in Photoshop. Audi has two other ads in this campaign. In one, the road curves, but the driver sees it going straight over a cliff. The other one has the driver crossing a railroad track and not seeing that the crossing bars have come down. I think my ad fits in nicely.

 

Images Used

Audi – Leave your phone while you drive.

 

Valley Of Fire / maxpixel.freegreatpicture,com

 

Photo by Gary Migues / justfunfacts.com

Creative Battery Ad

I had the assignment to create an ad for a boring product using symbolic or non-literal concepts. The product and target audience were randomly assigned. My product was batteries and my target audience was single men between the ages of 35-44 who have Associates degrees and earn an income between $40,000-59,000. Most of their media consumption would come from TV and Social Media. I decided this group would probably enjoy outdoor activities and might respond to an ad that alludes to a battery powerful enough to keep a flashlight bright.

 

Final Creative Ad for TV

 

Final Creative Ad for Social Media

 

Must Include:

I had to determine a specific brand and use the company logo in my design. I also needed to blend 2 or more images to communicate a symbolic, non-literal message. I needed an original headline to coincide with the visuals, 1 or 2 sentences of body copy, and to include a call to action. I had to create an ad sized for TV and one sized for Social Media since those were the mediums used by my target audience.

Images Used In Project:

 

Duracell Logo from duracell.com

 

Starry Night from all-free-download.com

 

Moon Image from PublicDomainPictures.net

 

9 Volt Battery photo by Wendi Van Sickle

Design

I had a few different ideas for this ad including a glow worm cave powered by Duracell and a killer whale spouting batteries up to the moon and stars. When I found the image of the moon on the horizon of a body of water, I decided to try making it look as if the moon had stopped to be charged. I thought it was a good way to imply that Duracell could also keep a flashlight bright in the dark.

My instructor suggested lowering the opacity of the mask on the battery so it could be partially seen under water. I used proximity in my typography by keeping the related text close to each other. I have a heading with body copy and a call to action, to make sure they are using Duracell. I also used alignment in the text as well as repetition.

Typography

To add contrast, I used a sans serif typeface, Neue Haas Grotesk, and a serif typeface, Egyptian Slate Std. I also had contrast in the font sizes and the white against the black background.

Color

I like the colors in the images I chose. It was an obvious decision to use white lettering, which matches the stars and contrasts the black background. Although it wasn’t my doing, I like how the blue tones repeat through the moon, clouds, and water.

Conclusion

I had a tough time deciding on images, but otherwise, this has been my favorite project. I learned a lot about Photoshop. It’s an amazing tool! It was also fun to think and design in a non-literal way.

Designing Icons

Icons are everywhere. Some are so familiar, they could almost replace the words they represent in many languages. They’re so common, we take them for granted. If I need an icon to represent something, I’ll just start searching the internet and assume that someone has already created it for me. Recently, I learned how to use Illustrator to create them myself. My project needed to have 4 to 6 original icons, each communicating a single message, while being consistently designed and recognizable as a set. I was not allowed to use text, gradients, drop shadows, pixels, or raster effects.

Furniture Icons

I added a white background in my html code so the icons would stand out.

Target Audience

I decided my category would be furniture. I’ve watched my children play games like Webkins, where they get to “buy” furniture and decorate a room. I always wished I could create the little furniture graphics myself. I like this set because all the pieces look like they belong together in a single room. I thought about who else might be interested in my icons. Someone who owns a furniture store could use them in their website or signage. There are also companies who design or search for new icons to offer on the web.

 

Small Icons

Icons need to be recognizable even at small sizes. The details should be simple so they don’t become a mess of lines when they are shrunk down. These icons are 60 x 60 pixels.

Desk

Couch

Lamp

Chair

Dresser

 

 

 

I know these are hard to see on my dark background, but I thought I’d show the small ones looking more like icons out in the wild. Here they are again with a white background.

Desk

Couch

Lamp

Chair

Dresser

 

 

 

Large Icons

The great thing about vector images is that they can be sized very large or very small without loosing the integrity of the image. These icons are 400 x 400 pixels. I learned, while using Adobe Illustrator, that you still need to understand a few settings so large images don’t become distorted at smaller sizes. It took me a while to figure out I needed to check the “scale corners” box in the Transform property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design Analysis

I decided I wanted all pieces to share the same color scheme. I actually tried introducing more colors, but it seemed to take away from the design and make them less cohesive. I used repetition in color and in the round corners of each piece. It was hardest for me to round the corners of the lamp since I used a stroke to create it. My first version had very sharp edges and didn’t quit fit in.

Conclusion

I had a lot of fun with this project. I would enjoy trying to make more icons and seeing if I can actually sell them or at least distribute them on the internet. The design principles I have been learning make all the difference in what I can create now compared to my skill level even a few months ago. Design has never been my favorite part of web development, but I’m learning to enjoy it.

Spiritual Design

I never appreciated how much work, or at least knowledge, is required to create a magazine layout. Little things the average person with a computer wouldn’t think of make all the difference. This assignment was to create a magazine layout using a 600+ word article found on LDS.org or BYUIScroll.org. It needed to be a at least a 2 column layout and include pull quotes, relevant images, at least one word wrap, consistent headings and body copy, and contrasting typography. The article I chose was “Our Father’s Glorious Plan” by Elder Weatherford T. Clayton

My first draft was filled with mistakes. Some of the most noticeable were the lack of alignment, little contrast in typography, valleys of space and awkwardly broken lines in the text wraps, a few widows and orphans in the text, colors that were pulled from the photo, but fell flat in the spread, and hard edges on the images.

After considering all of these issues, here’s what I came up with.

 

Target Audience

I decided my target audience would start in their late teens on up to the elderly. They would be male and female, most of them belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but could include other religions as well. Some might have recently lost a loved one and be looking for comfort about where they are. Some may be wondering about their own journey back to Heavenly Father. I chose to include photos of pathways because I think that religious people will relate God with those images.

Design

I tried to use the principles of proximity and alignment in my title, headings and text. I used repetition by using the same color orange for my headings, and the box behind the authors name, as I found in the leaves in my main image. I also used repetition with my two pull quotes and the gradient color on the spread. For contrast, I used a serif font and a sans serif font for the title and author and for the headings and body text. I also had some contrast in colors that were used in the spread.

Color

To chose the colors I would work with, I took a sample from a leaf in the image and used Adobe’s color wheel to create a color scheme. I played with the tints and shades until I found a combination I liked. For my title, I took a sample of the pavement in my main image. The title was close to being lost in the background, so I made an orange copy of the text, lowered the opacity, and put it behind and slightly above the main title, so the letters would stand out a little more. I put an orange box with lower opacity behind the author’s name because the serif font was harder to read.

Typography

The two typefaces I used were Avenir Next LT Pro and Baskerville MT Pro. I like Baskerville for the body copy because it’s an old style font that looks nice and is easy to read, which is especially important when there is a lot of text. I almost changed the title to Baskerville, but when I compared it to Avenir, it seemed to get lost. I like Avenir for the title and heading because it looks strong and seems to change the feeling of how important this article will be. I grouped the two different typefaces in the title and body copy to add contrast.

Photography

The main photo uses the rule of thirds and leading lines.  The image is of a beautiful fall scene with colors that remind me of God’s love for us, so I thought it would appeal to my target audience. There is also a bridge with railings that seem to lead you across. I had to lower the opacity at the bottom so the text would be readable and feather the edge so the line would not be hard. The image at the bottom of the spread follows the same theme of a path leading us to God.

Conclusion

I enjoyed this project and gained an appreciation for designers who have learned to see the little details that can change an amateur design into something beautiful and organized. My instructor also did this assignment. It took her one hour and looked like something you would find in the Ensign. She pointed out that she works with InDesign for 8 hours a day, but I would still be embarrassed to share how many hours I spent on my project. I’m amazed at how many details I missed in my first draft, but I know I’ll get better with practice.

Images Used in This Project

Photo by Wendi Van Sickle

 

Photo by Wendi Van Sickle

Thirds, Lines, and Fields

Great photographers know some tricks that the average guy with a camera
would do well to imitate. This post will explore three of them: The Rule of
Thirds, Leading Lines, and Depth of Field. I found beautiful examples of
each on the National Geographic website. I can’t jet off to New York to find
the perfect, picturesque scene, but I did my best, around my own area, to
mimic the style and photographic element (trick) used in each photo.

Rule of Thirds

This photograph was taken by Michael Medford in Adirondack Park, New
York, for National Geographic. It’s featured in a photo gallery to “Celebrate
the Arrival of Fall.”

Mr. Medford is utilizing the Rule of Thirds. The most obvious is the horizon
which lines up across the top third of the picture. The lake and the mountain
peak are right on the left vertical line and both are close to the intersections of
the top and bottom third lines.

 

My Turn (Rule of Thirds)

I went to Municipal Park, Boise Idaho and tried taking my own photo using the
rule of thirds.

Here I lined up the waterfall on the right vertical line of thirds and the driftwood
on the intersection of the lower horizontal and right vertical lines. I also tried to
have the closer rocks fill the lower third of the photo.

 

Leading Lines

Here is another photo by Michael Medford for National Geographic, this time, in
Acadia National Park, Maine.

The photographic element that stands out most is leading lines. The pathway
through the trees draws your eyes all the way to the end of it.

My Turn (Leading Lines)

This bridge/pathway is also in Municipal Park in Boise, Idaho. It felt like the
perfect spot to try a photo with leading lines.

The railings on either side of the pathway draw your eyes to the end. You might
focus on the rope or follow the next set of railings around the corner.

 

Depth of Field

This final picture by Michael Medford, which is featured on National Geographic,
was taken on the Allagash River in Main.

The photographic element demonstrated here is Depth of field. The canoe is the
first object you see. When you look beyond the canoe, you see the water leading
up to the trees and finally, the moon behind some clouds.

 

My Turn (Depth of Field)

I took this photo at Eagle Island Park in Eagle Idaho.

I tried to imitate the look of Mr. Medford’s photograph. Instead of a canoe, I
had to settle for some tall grass. Beyond the grass is some organic debris in
the water. Next you might notice the reflection of trees and shrubs in the water
leading up to the actual foliage.

 

Summary

Professional photographers utilize many tips and tricks that result in beautiful
photography, but remembering just the Rule of Thirds, Leading Lines, and Depth
of Field, while snapping photos, might help the rest of us to look like we know
what we’re doing.

 

Typography and Lobsters

This add was on a website called TV Commercial Spots. The site does not give any information
about who created the ad, but it is listed under their section for Red Lobster. I found an article
from 2014 on AdWeek.com reporting that Red Lobster had “named Publicis Kaplan Thaler as its
lead creative agency.” I can not verify that they are the ones responsible for this specific ad.

 

Slab Serif Typeface

The first typeface on this ad falls in the slab serif category. Slab serif typefaces can
be recognized by their thick block-like letterforms with little to no thick/thin
transition. The serifs on this typeface are as thick as the rest of the letterform.

 

Sans Serif Typeface

The second typeface on this ad is from the sans serif category. The most obvious
clue is that there are no serifs on any of the letters. Also, all of the letters are the
same thickness with no thick/thin transition.

 

Contrast

These two typefaces provide a nice contrast for this ad because they are from two
different categories that work well together. One has serifs and the other does not,
so they are seen as separate and distinct. Even though both typefaces use all capital
letters, the slab serif is set at a larger font size making the contrast more obvious.

 

Conclusion

Most of the ad space is taken by images of food with a dark gray background. The
large, white, slab serif  lettering, set in an arch over smaller, straight, white, sans serif
provides great contrast for the entire ad.

 

Dissecting the Alignment of a Pear

I found this ad on a website called Grocery Headquaters. The article was called “Pear Bureau Northwest Launches Fresh Consumer Ads” and was written by Elizabeth Louise Hatt. The ad was created for the Pear Bureau Northwest to promote the consumption of pears with particular emphasis on how to tell when they are ripe.  It ran in several food magazines from October 2014 to the end of February 2015. The add uses bold, striking colors to draw the viewer in and plant the idea that pears can be as sweet as ice cream.

 

Proximity

The designer used the principle of proximity by grouping the lines
of text that are closely related. For example, the question, “Want it
sweet?” is answered with the suggestion in the line that follows.

 

Alignment

The alignment of the words and image are obvious and deliberate.
Even if center alignment should generally be avoided, it works well
to have the centered words line up with the width of the pear. The
paragraph at the bottom is left aligned and fits perfect with the
logo in the opposite corner.

 

Repetition

This design uses repetition with color where the green in the image
matches the green in the logo. The yellow in the background is
repeated in the text and the cone. There is also repetition in the
bold lettering.

 

Contrast

The dark red background is a strong contrast for the yellow cone
and text. The green pear also stands out nicely from the bright
yellow behind it. There is contrast in the text as well. The bold
lettering and larger font in the text directly below the cone grabs
your attention. In fact, I still haven’t read the smaller lettering.
Finally, the contrast of the green and white coloring and cursive
font of the logo draws your eyes to the bottom right corner.

 

Conclusion

The center alignment of the image, with the bright contrast of
a yellow halo-like glow, was a perfect choice to grab a viewers attention.
Although center alignment with text can appear amateurish, it
comes off as intentional because of it’s proximity to the image and
alignment with the edges of the pear. The yellow color in the text,
the cone, the background, and the pear itself was a great way to
bring in repetition.