Chapter 2 did a great job on explaining what an advertisement is: "A message constructed to inform, persuade, promote, or motivate people on behalf of a brand or social cause." It talked about all the different kinds of ads and gave perfect examples of each, which helped me better understand what they were. The chapter also touched on the different audiences that are reached when an ad is made. I had no idea there are so many types of audiences. After reading this chapter, I realized how important it is to really know and understand who your ad is aiming towards. If Toys R Us had an advertisement or commercial with dull colors or old people in it, it wouldn't get the attention of many children, therefore, not being successful. Usually, when we see a commercial for toys, we see bright and fun colors, and children having fun. This way we know it is directed towards children, because it is
showing things they would like.
In the "Seeing is Believing" handout, it refers to images as a collection of signs and symbols. And chapter 2 tells us to be cautious of how we use these signs or symbols. As designers, we need to be extremely careful about offending people or give out any wrong messages. It can be easy to assume or stereotype people or opinions (also mentioned in the "Seeing is Believing" article.)
I like how they made a list of things that are ethical and unethical when designing. I think many people overlook some of these things, like religion and race, when they are advertising. I really liked how they explained what a creative brief is. It's amazing how much work goes into the foundation and planning and execution of an advertisement. I had no idea how much was involved.
Chapter 4 gave so many amazing ideas for advertising design. The example ads were
absolutely perfect for understanding each tactic. Just like in the "Seeing is Believing" article, this chapter explained visual analogies and metaphors, and what a huge impact they can have when advertising. I loved the advertisement that used a simile for children that have asthma; that they feel like a fish with no water. That is so clever.
Real life experiences can sometimes be the best method when looking for ideas. This is so, because we can all relate. Sometimes we need to get more creative, by using different points of view. They listed many examples, like through water, or upside down, or at weird angles. Using these can really bring the ad to another level. Comparisons and exaggerations are a very interesting way of looking at what someone is advertising as well.
It seems that sometimes the simplest ideas can work so well. From experience I know that to be simple and original at the same time can be tough. This chapter really pulled everything together for me, and gave me many ideas and plans that I can use in the future.
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2 comments:
Beth
excellent analysis of the reading, and concise synthesis of the salient points.
I am very pleased to see you connecting information from past assignments with current assignments...such as "As designers, we need to be extremely careful about offending people or give out any wrong messages. It can be easy to assume or stereotype people or opinions (also mentioned in the "Seeing is Believing" article.)
Was there anything you learned in assignment #1 that applies to this assignment?
Did you read my last blog posting on "Seeing Is Believing? If not,do so. It asks some questions regarding how semiotics is used in advertising such as-"How are codes used in advertising"?;"how are condensation and displacement used in advertising"?; how is connotation used in advertising?"
Which of the "big idea" concepts will you use in the design of your "no copy ad"? What type of ad will it be - and who is the target audience for the ad?
What form(s) of analogy do you intend to use? Where will you get your images...how will they be created?
How can you use ideas you learned about in the first 3 assignments, especially "icon language",
in the creation of your ad?
Professor Shillea
Two key words from the first assignment, simile and metaphor, were used in chapter 4. They were the first big ideas mentioned in the chapter, and are usually very successful in ads. Relay and anchorage were also keywords in the first assignment and now we have to create an ad without using these two concepts, as you called it a "No Copy Ad.' Same thing with connotation and denotation from the first assignment, last class you showed us many examples on how we read ads. First we see the denotation, then connotation, and then the preferred. For example, the winter scene with the clothes line, that was advertising bleach.
Yes I did read your blog post on "Seeing is Believing" and I took notes on it.
I am working on two different "no copy ads" right now because I can not decide which one I am going to use.
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