Assignment 1

This is a vintage Japanese print ad from Ikko Tanaka. The main thing that I would like to discuss is its use of contrast and movement. The initial thing that pops when you look at the image is the yellow eye of the fish. The fish points upward and leads the viewer from the eye in the bottom half to the top right were the text explains what the ad is for. The top uses color and white space to pop the white against the blue background and prevent any distraction from the text. Another element important to this piece is its use of positive and negative space. The image uses both black and white to unify the design. The white text at the top is followed by black text that connects to the large fish at the bottom portion of the image. The design is simple, clean, and creates curiosity in the viewer.

This is a very surreal Ripolin house paint print ad that proclaims, "Your walls deserve a paint which will age well." The sheer weight of the grotesque human wall in this image is important because of how much it over powers the frame. The text is left only to a small corner where the catch line cleverly explains what the ad is about. The white color of the small text is useful in how it moves you from this massive bizarre human wall straight to an explanation. It uses size and contrast to create interest in the viewer. The ad's surreal quality is its strength and can successfully focus our modern attention spans on something as mundane as house paint.

This is a Mini billboard ad from Giuseppe Mastromatteo. The first thing that draws me into the image is its use of balance. The car sits in the center of the light and diagonally points you in the direction of the logo and text. It is successful image that plays with figure and ground by putting a real three dimensional car against flat space. It also uses the repetition of blue to unite the car with the two dimensional text on the billboard. The use of black and white is important because of how it amalgamates the image through positive and negative color. The black covers the majority of the space on both the billboard and the road while using white to accent the text and car. This makes the image sleek, noticeable, and intriguing. 

This is an anti-cigarette advertisement that proclaims, "Just looking at them makes you Sick.” The first thing I noticed about this image was its use of rhythm to make you feel disgust. The frequency of the repeated diagonal lines in the image contrast with the groups of lines forming different patterns. The image as a result ends up making a very offbeat rhythm that's hard to digest. This tool is powerful in how it persuades you in a way that is not just visual but also physical. Another interesting quality of the image is how the grouping of the lines leads you down to the circle containing text. You are moved as a viewer past the disturbing elements of the image to what it is trying to say literally.

This is another surreal print ad that I found featuring wasabi peas. The first thing that drew me in was its use of size to grab your attention. The image immediately challenges you to stare into the eye, which dominates the center taking up most of the frame. Your attention comes immediately to the blackness of the blown out eye staring straight at you. From this point you move away from the center towards the product, which uses green to stand out noticeably in the frame against the eye.

This was a web ad that I came across on the BBC news homepage. I found it surprising that this fairly barren add was laying in the middle of the professional looking BBC news page. The first thing that sort of interested me about the ad was the terrible use of text. It looks very uninteresting and not remotely eye popping. It appears as if it was a scam typed by some patent troll on Microsoft Word. Now onto the other features of the ad. The image at the bottom shows a bull who despite it's upward arched back does barley anything to move the viewer towards the text above. I feel in part this is due to the lack of contrast from the bull. The colors of the bull, the table, and the newspaper provide nothing of interest and you get stuck feeling bored before you even try to read the text. Stylistically I call this a scam ad and hope that not you or anyone else ever has to look at this garbage again.

This was a soda advertisement that I found next to a baseball field. The ad uses balance to equally center the sodas next to the logo. It features repetition by using multiple cans of soda to move your eye from one end of the ad to the next. I feel that the cans are however not successful in holding you’re attention due to its unsuccessful usage of spacing. Everything is too cluttered, lacks dynamics, and does nothing to challenge the viewer. As a result the image becomes tacky, clunky, and very forgettable.