Sunday, 26 August 2007
http://flickrvision.com/
This is an unusual site, where any one across the globe can upload photos. When they are posted they pop up on the map. The idea is based upon sharing photography, and therefore perhaps data. I like the interactive element, rather than a basic database of images. By clicking on a image, you are transported to someones photo collection.
The Jupiter drawing room -http://www.jupiter.co.za
This Jupiter drawing room has used some nice unconventional advertising methods. I particularly like the closet built for the Nedbank Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. It uses the well-known phrase coming out of the closet, yet I believe in a friendly witty nature. A very different way of advertising, though I would be concerned that it could blend in to the background too much.
However 'Another dimension was added to the idea by looping a recording of random knocking and screaming and playing it from within the closet. This created the illusion that actual people were trapped within, and were dying to come out. It also generated lots of smiles.' The positioning of such adverts is vital. It shows that even 3d objects can be used with advertising rather than the traditional print and new age digital.
Thursday, 23 August 2007
How to analyse Advertising
I found some simple easy tips on how to analyse adverting on 'http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article227.html' It has made me realise that there are a lot of psychological factors that can be revealed from an ad, and exactly how the media can build social polices. The tip would be useful for future analysis.
1. What is the general ambience of the advertisement? What mood does it create? How does it do this?
2.What is the design of the advertisement? Does it use axial balance or some other form? How are the basic components or elements arranged?
3.What is the relationship between pictorial elements and written material and what does this tell us?
4.What is the use of space in the advertisement? Is there a lot of 'white space" or is it full of graphic and written elements?
5.What signs and symbols do we find? What role do they play in the ad's impact?
6.If there are figures (men, women, children, animals) what are they like? What can be said about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education, occupation, relationships (of one to the other)?
7.What does the background tell us? Where is the advertisement taking place and what significance does this background have?
8.What action is taking place in the advertisement and what significance does it have? (This might be described as the ad's "plot.")
9.What theme or themes do we find in the advertisement? What is it about? (The plot of an advertisement may involve a man and a woman drinking but the theme might be jealousy, faithlessness, ambition, passion, etc.)
10.What about the language used? Does it essentially provide information or does it try to generate some kind of emotional response? Or both? What techniques are used by the copywriter: humor, alliteration, definitions" of life, comparisons, sexual innuendo, and so on?
11.What typefaces are used and what impressions do they convey?
12.What is the item being advertised and what role does it play in American culture and society?
13.What about aesthetic decisions? If the advertisement is a photograph, what kind of a shot is it? What significance do long shots, medium shots, close-up shots have? What about the lighting, use of color, angle of the shot?
14.What sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the advertisement? An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly, reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on
1. What is the general ambience of the advertisement? What mood does it create? How does it do this?
2.What is the design of the advertisement? Does it use axial balance or some other form? How are the basic components or elements arranged?
3.What is the relationship between pictorial elements and written material and what does this tell us?
4.What is the use of space in the advertisement? Is there a lot of 'white space" or is it full of graphic and written elements?
5.What signs and symbols do we find? What role do they play in the ad's impact?
6.If there are figures (men, women, children, animals) what are they like? What can be said about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education, occupation, relationships (of one to the other)?
7.What does the background tell us? Where is the advertisement taking place and what significance does this background have?
8.What action is taking place in the advertisement and what significance does it have? (This might be described as the ad's "plot.")
9.What theme or themes do we find in the advertisement? What is it about? (The plot of an advertisement may involve a man and a woman drinking but the theme might be jealousy, faithlessness, ambition, passion, etc.)
10.What about the language used? Does it essentially provide information or does it try to generate some kind of emotional response? Or both? What techniques are used by the copywriter: humor, alliteration, definitions" of life, comparisons, sexual innuendo, and so on?
11.What typefaces are used and what impressions do they convey?
12.What is the item being advertised and what role does it play in American culture and society?
13.What about aesthetic decisions? If the advertisement is a photograph, what kind of a shot is it? What significance do long shots, medium shots, close-up shots have? What about the lighting, use of color, angle of the shot?
14.What sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the advertisement? An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly, reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
The Design Museum
I visited the design museum, the other day as I was looking for the 50 years of Helvetica exhibition. However this appeared to be a small exhibition in the Cafe area. I had a look but most of the images I had seen on the blanka website that I had recently discovered. I must admit I did like the way the work was positioned in the cafe area, it suggested that this place was serious and enthusiastic about design as it was filtered everywhere. I found the display obscure. It based its ideas
Therefore I led myself to the two other main exhibitions Zaha Hadid, Architecture and Design, as well as a graphic design exhibition names Friendly Fire by Johnathan Barmbrook. Both are rather influential and interesting.
I first saw Zaha Hadid's exhibition. The first room her later work was in a darker room with spot lights, that I felt created a good atmosphere for her Russian constructivist work. Hadid was born in Baghdad in 1950, and came to London in 1972. She has created 'Urban master pieces to domestic objects and furniture.'
Her work uses radical geometry, which is formed from the influential period Russian constructivism. I found her paintings rather abstract considering they where based on architecture. This may be due to the sheer amount of detail, the angles of the work, and how the architecture is stretched across the entire canvas. She manages to go beyond basic forms, which almost makes the work hard to look at. Work I particularly liked was ‘The Divers,’ as it showed the designs in use. It seems that the paintings are the basis of her architecture designs that are then drawn up using layers of acetate and then models are created.
Upstairs in the museum the exhibition is extended. It appears more contemporary than the selection down stairs. The curve seems to be embraced, where before Sharpe angles appeared to be the trend. I preferred these designs. They appear more fluid. The design bellow almost appears living.
The second exhibition was called Friendly Fire by Jonathan Barmbrook. His work made rather admirable bold statements about rather serious worldly issues. I felt inspired by the strength of this work, It makes you desire such graphic jobs to work on yourself, however such strong ideas need to be expressed well and loudly to be successful. 'And this designer doesn’t hesitate when offered the opportunity to dive into ideological waters and deliberately swim in political ponds.' http://www.fontshop.com/features/fontmag/002/02_barnbrook/. He espiers to 'graphic design having a vital role to play in influencing ideological landscapes of society.'
A particular piece of work I liked was his magazine ad busters 'a graphically-designed magazine devoted to numerous political and social causes, and run by an organisation aiming to 'advance the new social activist movement of the information age' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Barnbrook. One image I saw was a straight image comparison on a beer gut belly and a young Childs belly from Africa, the images were very hard hitting without any effort.
He suggests that 'designers should not separate their own beliefs to those that they express in their work.' He is very expressive with colour, he mentioned on a concept board of his for Damien Hirsts book design, that white is used within design a lot because there is a pretence to be tasteful. However as much as I can see his, point, it very hard to appear tasteful and not use white, it so commonly used and does appear fresh to the untrained eye.
He also is extremely experimental with his use of type. Which seems to express 'Visual Energy' http://www.fontshop.com/features/fontmag/002/02_barnbrook/. I would like to look further in to how he develops such fonts, and where he gains such influences.
Therefore I led myself to the two other main exhibitions Zaha Hadid, Architecture and Design, as well as a graphic design exhibition names Friendly Fire by Johnathan Barmbrook. Both are rather influential and interesting.
I first saw Zaha Hadid's exhibition. The first room her later work was in a darker room with spot lights, that I felt created a good atmosphere for her Russian constructivist work. Hadid was born in Baghdad in 1950, and came to London in 1972. She has created 'Urban master pieces to domestic objects and furniture.'
Her work uses radical geometry, which is formed from the influential period Russian constructivism. I found her paintings rather abstract considering they where based on architecture. This may be due to the sheer amount of detail, the angles of the work, and how the architecture is stretched across the entire canvas. She manages to go beyond basic forms, which almost makes the work hard to look at. Work I particularly liked was ‘The Divers,’ as it showed the designs in use. It seems that the paintings are the basis of her architecture designs that are then drawn up using layers of acetate and then models are created.
Upstairs in the museum the exhibition is extended. It appears more contemporary than the selection down stairs. The curve seems to be embraced, where before Sharpe angles appeared to be the trend. I preferred these designs. They appear more fluid. The design bellow almost appears living.
The second exhibition was called Friendly Fire by Jonathan Barmbrook. His work made rather admirable bold statements about rather serious worldly issues. I felt inspired by the strength of this work, It makes you desire such graphic jobs to work on yourself, however such strong ideas need to be expressed well and loudly to be successful. 'And this designer doesn’t hesitate when offered the opportunity to dive into ideological waters and deliberately swim in political ponds.' http://www.fontshop.com/features/fontmag/002/02_barnbrook/. He espiers to 'graphic design having a vital role to play in influencing ideological landscapes of society.'
A particular piece of work I liked was his magazine ad busters 'a graphically-designed magazine devoted to numerous political and social causes, and run by an organisation aiming to 'advance the new social activist movement of the information age' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Barnbrook. One image I saw was a straight image comparison on a beer gut belly and a young Childs belly from Africa, the images were very hard hitting without any effort.
He suggests that 'designers should not separate their own beliefs to those that they express in their work.' He is very expressive with colour, he mentioned on a concept board of his for Damien Hirsts book design, that white is used within design a lot because there is a pretence to be tasteful. However as much as I can see his, point, it very hard to appear tasteful and not use white, it so commonly used and does appear fresh to the untrained eye.
He also is extremely experimental with his use of type. Which seems to express 'Visual Energy' http://www.fontshop.com/features/fontmag/002/02_barnbrook/. I would like to look further in to how he develops such fonts, and where he gains such influences.
Monday, 20 August 2007
Advertising is dead, Long Live Advertsing
I have recently read the book, Advertising is dead, Long Live Advertising By Tom Himpe and Will Colin.
The book is based upon the theory of 'non-conventional forms of advertising' that we so readily take up in today’s design society. I have to agree that grabbing people attention is harder now than ever before, purely for the immense amount of advertising about, and the more places it can be seen, mostly in a multimedia sense.’ Therefore advertisers can no longer rely on Consumers to behave like the passive receivers they once where.' 'Brands are compensating for the declining impact of traditional advertising. Here's is some alternatives traditional advertising that the author listed, Guerrilla, Ambient, Steath, Buzz, word of mouth, virals, stunts, advertising gaming, experimental, wild fire, ambush etc etc.
It is believed that there are 'Four drivers of alternative advertsing.' that are worth remembering.
Proximity. This means getting closer to the consumers on a face to face basis. Either the brand comes to the consumer or the consumer comes to the brand, without any other media involvement. One example of this is the use of promotional staff.
Exclusivity. 'Having alone time with the consumer.' The brand/ advertising agency finds a special environment away from other competition to promote their product. E.g. An elevator. Evian once used a swimming pool floor to promote their water. A very appropriate place, and is seen in the book.
Invisibility. I.e. to quietly advertise/ moving the brand to back ground. 'Advertising that does not look and feel like advertising.' 'Consumer do not like the smell of the sell.' For example, reducing brand Logo/ creating an event to help the lives of the consumers.
Unpredictability. Basically is involves catching the consumer off guard, and is something you don't see everyday. It has to come as a genuine surprise to the consumer.
Friday, 17 August 2007
Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery Online Is a great place to find inspirational art. You can find the most contemporary and cutting edge art.
Within the site (www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk) there are also biographies, information on the artist, articles, and other resources.
With the website I found a sub heading 'Which reality?' which held some quite nice pieces of work.
Firstly Inka Essenhigh, here first piece shown bellow is called 'Subway' an oil on canvas, 200x180cm. I love the fluid motion of the piece, created by her 'seamless' application of paint. Which seems appropriate considering the movement on a subway. 'Turning everyday banality into surreal case study, Essenhigh gives humorous portrayal of people at their rush hour worst. Drawing stylistic reference from both graphic novels and golden age animation, caricatured city-types gain comically heroic status, rendering a humble slice of America as grand theatrical drama.' http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/inka_essenhigh.htm
Blue wave 2002 oil on canvas 178x 188cm
Supergod 2001, oil and enamel on canvas 183x 188cm
Another artist I was particularly intressted in is David Throrpe. Instead of using the usual oil on canvas, he created these amazing paper collages. They contain the finest of detail. He creates images of 'scenes of urban isolation oozing sex appeal, 70s social architecture promising budget exotica.'
Forever 1998 Paper collage 136 x 154 cm
Kings of the night 1998, paper collage 149x 168cm
We never sleep 1998 Paper collage 90 x 176 cm
Within the site (www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk) there are also biographies, information on the artist, articles, and other resources.
With the website I found a sub heading 'Which reality?' which held some quite nice pieces of work.
Firstly Inka Essenhigh, here first piece shown bellow is called 'Subway' an oil on canvas, 200x180cm. I love the fluid motion of the piece, created by her 'seamless' application of paint. Which seems appropriate considering the movement on a subway. 'Turning everyday banality into surreal case study, Essenhigh gives humorous portrayal of people at their rush hour worst. Drawing stylistic reference from both graphic novels and golden age animation, caricatured city-types gain comically heroic status, rendering a humble slice of America as grand theatrical drama.' http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/inka_essenhigh.htm
Blue wave 2002 oil on canvas 178x 188cm
Supergod 2001, oil and enamel on canvas 183x 188cm
Another artist I was particularly intressted in is David Throrpe. Instead of using the usual oil on canvas, he created these amazing paper collages. They contain the finest of detail. He creates images of 'scenes of urban isolation oozing sex appeal, 70s social architecture promising budget exotica.'
Forever 1998 Paper collage 136 x 154 cm
Kings of the night 1998, paper collage 149x 168cm
We never sleep 1998 Paper collage 90 x 176 cm
Thursday, 16 August 2007
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