My Five Ads

Levis: The balance of this billboard ad is contrasting- with the background being dark and the text being white. The size is interesting because the photo is of the ocean which is thought of as vast and large, but its the text that seems larger than life. The text is extended and the font style can be classified as a display font. Reading the text of the ad, the movement of the text away from straight lines, the use of slang " 'cause" and the mismatch size match the manifesto that is projected. Which is interesting when you are asked to be a pioneer in jeans that have been around for over half a century. (This ad is in the subway at 14th street, with other ads at Spring Street..my photo didn't come out- but I found it online. Pretty cool to me because my last name is Goforth and there's something exhilarating about seeing your name on a billboard.)

Bear Grylls: This print ad is asymmetrical, with the text on the left side of the dividing line. The size forces you to focus on the subject of the text's head to focus your attention to that first and then to the text itself- which is small and leads you in and out of the helicopter used in the show. The choice for a bold, capitalized display font emphasizes the rugged, macho mentality of the show. The use of one color image draws your attention to a scene from the show and get the viewer interested in watching the show.

Gary Coleman: This ad was on Facebook. Is there an element of ads  that discusses the humor of the text or is "the media the message" for this assignment? The first thing I noticed is the title of the ad: Gary. The ad reads as a collectable card similar to a tarot card's title at the top. Numerous font styles are used in this ad- but one font. The structure is graduated- with the pattern changing in an even way. The figure is Gary Coleman, and the white space around his image shows its pieced together on the fortune stand. The direction of the text and the image direct readers from the heading of the ad downward.

Obsessed: This ad uses the strategy of positive and negative to connect the two sets of individuals. The size of the foreground couple draws the viewers alliance to that couple first. The male in the poster is largest, coming out of the frame- possibly alluding to his position in the story? The use of white shadowed text for the credits that almost disappears into the white background shows the opposite of emphasis- almost forcing the viewer to think that its not important- that nothing is important but the name of the film and its tagline. How closely do the pieces of the design work with the designer? What came first? The photo of the antagonist in red and the protagonist couple in blue together or the idea for the poster? Were the couple photographed together or asked to be photographed that way?

Target: This ad over-uses repetition of a recognizable symbol. It also continues a tradition of being able to spot a Target ad simply by the use of the red target (over and over and over) Your attention is to what at first seems to be a large Target symbol, but size is reduced when your attention draws to the rest of the ad and you could see that the circle is a garden hose and the dot is a kickball. The use of variations of red is a signature of Target ads, and juxtaposed with the blue sky and the white fence and white aspects of the models (clothes, skin color and hair color) Even the groupings of the Target symbol on the clothing is noticeable by the viewer although its minute.