re: presentations

hi folks.

i just thought i'd stick my tuppence-worth in here, as regards some comments robert made towards the end of his 'presentations' post:

I did recieve one particular critique of my piece at one point, which for the most part I disagreed with, I felt that the points being made were invalid and showed a distinct lack of vision. The use of words such as "this is all wrong" and "it should be like this" made me feel demotivated and a bit insulted....that such a person could be that bound to the unwritten rules.

i know that presentations can be a bit disheartening at times; you work on something for weeks until you think you've got it just right.  then you present it to the class and it seems like everyone just queues up to knock it.  trust me, we know what that feels like.  dinnae forget that alex, griff and me have all been there too, when we were students.  we've all suffered the joys of standing up at the front of the room, having our work ripped to shreds by our classmates and tutors.

[when you actually go out in the commercial world it's even worse - but that's another story!]

speaking with my tutor hat on; the problem for us is that we're constantly trying to think of ways we reckon your work could be improved. that disnae mean we think it's rubbish to begin with - far from it. i think we've said several times that we're very impressed with the standard of work that your year group is producing. but, since we've usually got a whole class's worth of presentations to get through in one session, that necessarily means that we've got to 'cut to the chase' and get directly to the point.

unfortunately that usually means that during most presentations you'll tend to hear more about what's wrong with your piece than what's right with it.  that's just a sad fact of life.  it has ever been thus and it ever will.  [you should also bear in mind that human nature dictates that if someone makes half a dozen positive comments on something we've done and one or two negative ones, we'll tend to only remember the negatives].

all that said, i dinnae think we would ever say something like the  "this is all wrong" or the "it should be like this" which robert quotes. we will certainly suggest things which could have been done differently and we'll point out parts which we think didnae work as well as other parts of a piece of work,  but i really cannae remember ever saying something as downright negative as the above. this is art after all.  there are no 'right' or 'wrong' answers.

and finally, remember it's the marks you get at the end which count. not a few throwaway comments made during a presentation. so chin up folks.  get working hard on the infographics brief - and we can go through this all once more, at the next presentation....  when we tell you what a terrible mess you've made of it all again!

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Moonlighters

Hello All,
Sorry I haven't been in all last week I have been feeling poorly with a cold, I bet I was missed...lol.
Anyway I have printed out the new brief and it got me thinking, then remembered an health and safety animation about Never play with Lighters (warning it can be long winded you have been warned). Moonlighters, 1987

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Radio Silence

Hello guys,

Sorry for the radio silence this weekend. I have been super busy. Drove to Northampton Thursday, worked there Friday, Drove to Bournemouth Friday Eve, worked their Saturday, Drove back the 5 hour trek today! Tired is an understatement.

Thanks for posting the brief Stiobhart, will read up on it, as soon as my eyes and brain start working as a team again!!?!

As you all know, our brains never stop as designers. During my weekend, I was in a lot of JJB stores doing footscans - won't go into detail about what I do. HOWEVER, something I did notice was how poor and old fashioned all of the posters were in JJB! It was pretty horrendous. They looked like they were made before I was born - I think this could be a huge reason into why JJB isnt sean as popular or cool anymore? Maybe? I was looking at them, thinking we could all do a much better job! It shows just how powerful advertisements are hey!

See you next week.

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Advertisements review - Like/Dislike?

It wasn't until very recently that I noticed that it wasn't just me who liked watching advertisements, and after starting this course realised that in fact most creatives seem to draw inspiration from them. But not necessarily in a creative sense....some adverts I like just because they make me smile or feel good.

In an attempt to create a bit of interaction in this blog post, everyone pick two adverts that are showing at the moment....one you like and one you dislike....and tell us why. I'm interested to see what different things people like.


DISLIKE:

Injury Lawyers 4 U - the first two or three adverts they had a few years ago I didn't really mind because I actually found them quite commical, which I suppose is the reason they changed them...to look more professional. But in a steady decline the adverts have become increasingly depressive and in the latest ad have gone overboard with the "FOR YOU" quotes (a phrase which after numerous years of call centre work I have begun to loathe). The colours in the latest commercials have a very grey feel and the actor telling you about the service looks bored out of his head....all round it just makes me frown when I see it come on.


LIKE:

Head & Shoulders - I can just vaguely recall the last time an advertisement made me feel so good, i'm pretty sure it was for Coca Cola in the late 90s or something. Anyhoos....this Head & Shoulders ad, i've been telling people about it since it aired. I absolutely love it but i'm not entirely sure why, the music is a definate contributer and possibly the allround bright lighting of it. It would also be interesting to see the storyboard for it as I like some of the shots aswell. The simple narrative of two strangers having a brief but chance meeting is one i've always liked.....and actually, I think it something along those lines which was in the coke ad.





As a side-note, the Barclaycard advert everyone keeps banging on about....no one seems to be seeing the issue that confuses me about it. There is one point in it where the guy on the rollercoaster looks at a woman though her window as she is taking a shower, from the angle we have she is covered by the shower curtain....yet the rollercoaster guy can see her naked, no wonder he has a smile on his face.....but she smiles back!?!
A tad risque don't you think? ....hmmm, well I recently worked for Barclaycard for 2 years and I never got that vibe at all. I'm still trying to work out why they put that scene in there....other than to shock people.

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Week in review

I went to the Urbis for the penultimate time yesterday as it is due to close tomorrow, on level 1 was the 'History of Hip-Hop' exhibition that has been on for a while and I wasn't all that excited about it. Although I did find it interesting seeing various notebooks and sketchbooks there in which rappers noted down their rhymes.

The top floor was the final exhibition and regarding the history of Television production in Manchester, the photographs on display were the main source of enjoyment here as it really gave a sense of what the region has produced over the years. I also had a flashback when I noticed that one of the old televisions that they had set up for display was actually the first we had when I was very young.
There were also a lot of photos of Tony Wilson, whom I do remember watching as I grew up when he was a reporter on the regional news....but I never knew of his other exploits until much later, after his untimely death in fact.

The last floor was an exhibition celebrating the last six years of shows that have been present in the building, this brought back some good memories and reading the wall of feedback doodles that they had setup....it was clear that everyone is still baffled about the news of it's departure.
There were many great exhibitions at the Urbis and some even catered to my own specific interests such as east-asian arts, manga and video games.....yet, the one which I feel was the defining show over the years was the Emory Douglas exhibiton as it was very powerful. One particular thing in particular that I remember about that show was an infrared beam they had set up so that when someone viewing the exhibition crossed its path...it triggered a gun shot sound. A shocking but realistic sense of the times.

It's a real shame that there will be no more Urbis exhibitions unless they can set up somewhere else, which I very much doubt, and as I said at beginning of this post...yesterdays visit was the penultimate time that I would be going there. That is because once the football museum has moved in its place, after my initial visit to see the display I will have very little desire to go there again.

-----------

In regards to Tony Wilson whom I mentioned above, we watched the film '24 Hour Party People' in our contextual studies lecture this week. A film charting the specific history of Manchester known as 'Madchester' and 'Gunchester', and the music scene of time. I found it a bit funny as I could see that most of it had been in filmed in Salford rather than Manchester, and although people often talk about the 'Madchester' scene at The Hacienda and what a big impact it had.....it was actually the 'Gunchester' scenes of the film which brought back my own memories of it, I was young and there were teengagers on our street with guns who sometimes shot at our windows and doors. My mum never let me out of the house because of this and it undoubtedly contributed to my now slightly reclusive nature.

It is these horrible memories, coupled with the 'Madchester' culture that has always been pushed upon me as an importance to my herritage that I don't want to stay here all of my life. I am often thinking about what it is that I like about Salford or Manchester, what makes it great and what it has done for me....and I tend to be without much of an answer.

-----------

I also watched an animated film the other day called 'Kirikou and the Sorceress', a film about an African folk tale of a brave boy who comes into the world and saves his village from the evil sorceress that terrorizes them day and night. Initially it was my mum that had recorded it for me because she thought it sounded Japanese (there is an order to record anything remotely to do with Japanese culture) although when I noticed that it was about an African tale I wasn't going to watch it.....but I put it on for 5 minutes to give it a go. I ended up watching the whole thing....it was brilliant, I could watch it again a few more times....a good quality for a film. The art style was great and the characterisation of the main storyline was brilliant. I am glad that I watched it all.

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Presentations

I was pleased with my presenation on Thursday, I wasn't as nervous as the last time, I felt quite confident about my sketchbook work for this project as I was really proud of that part in particular....so perhaps this may have helped me talk more openly about it.

Considering that I began production on the Tuesday of deadline week I think that I did quite well, I was determined not to move into production until I was satisfied with my ideas....which I wasn't up until that point.
Still....I wont be able to get away with this forever so I definately have to be more effective with time in the future.

On the friday (deadline day) I had two finished versions of my sequence, one with a pre-selected piece of music which I had heard in a film I watched over Christmas. And the other with my own original music.It wasn't until Thursday night that I completed my animation so i'd only begun composing the music at aroun 2am on deadline day....not recommended....and so with the slightly rushed piece that I had, I decided to make two videos with both tracks and ask for some advice.
After getting a few people to watch them both, they were all in agreement that my original music was better than the pre-selected track....so that is what I went for.

For the sake of comparison, and also due to the fact that my sequence wouldn't play on the laptop....here are two versions. Which do you think works better? hmmm.


This was the version with the pre-selected track. It is a very short segment that I cut from one of Howard Shore's long compositions for the movie soundtrack to the family film 'BIG'.




And this is the final submitted version accompanied by my own music.




I did recieve one particular critique of my piece at one point, which for the most part I disagreed with, I felt that the points being made were invalid and showed a distinct lack of vision. The use of words such as "this is all wrong" and "it should be like this" made me feel demotivated and a bit insulted....that such a person could be that bound to the unwritten rules.
Still.....keep smilin' eh.

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Public Information Films from the 40s

Now these probably wont serve much of a difference in regards to the brief, but I thought that i'd share them for some amusement. These are two of a collection of public information films from the 1940s which use comedy to present the issues in question, i'd seen these before a few years ago but only just re-discovered them thanks to the topic of the latest brief.

Even now they still make me laugh out aloud, for me these are a timeless example of great british comedy.

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GTA: inspiration?

I was having a look through the playlists that Stio posted and watched the one called 'Yellow Box Junction', most of which shows the flow of traffic from a plan view....the way the cars are drawn and the use of colour and shading...it instantly reminded me of something else....

....this.



....Grand Theft Auto. The hugely popular video game from 1997. The style is very much alike....possibly a source of inspiration when they were designing the game?


It's hard to believe that in just 10 years the style has changed so much, the latest game in the series, Grand Theft Auto 4, came out in 2008....and just look at how realistic and amazing the graphics are.



And yet....despite these amazing and impressive graphics, I actually rank it lower than the original game overall. And it is things like this which continually make me question 'What makes a good game?'.

...clearly not graphics.

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Some good stuff at the Cornerhouse

Afternoon folks,

I wonder where all you little monkeys are today as it's very quiet in school!!

Anyway... I get regular emails form The Cornerhouse with news of flims/ exhibitions they have on, or are coming up and when i looked at the latest one and thought of you... well particularly of Rob and Sara.

Rob - With your interest in Japanese culture you're probably a lot more familiar than me with the work of director Yasujiro Ozu. I've never actually seen any of his stuff but have heard the name and read a few things about him recently. Well he has a film from 1953 on this weekend at the cornerhouse called Tokyo Story that apparently has been voted 'one of the best films of all time' in a critics poll. With a name like Tokyo Bob this must be right up your street.

Here's the link -

http://www.cornerhouse.org/film/info.aspx?ID=1284&page=0

And Sara - They have a Spanish and Latin American film festival on there every year called ¡Viva! and it starts in a week with a pretty big program of films. I actually went to see 2 of the films last year when it was on and although i can't remember what either were called they were both very good. So if you're feeling a bit home-sick or just fancy a Spanish fix check it out!

Here's the link -

http://www.cornerhouse.org/film/season.aspx?ID=252&page=0

If you are neither Rob or Sara then I'm afraid I cannot help you at this time.

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Infographics-spot

Speaking about Infographics, I remembered there was a really good one on the Spanish tv. It came out on summer and advised you to protect yourself from the hot weather.

They have used shadowplay to illustrate each advice, which I think makes the advert really creative and original.

The spot is in Spanish - obviously, but I've translated the sentences, so you can get what the images suggest.

-[Contra el calor, toma medidas]

In hot weather take precautionary measures

-[Bebe agua frecuentemente aunque no tengas sed]

Take frequents drinks of water, even if you are not thirsty

-[Refrescate a menudo, mojate]

Keep yourself cool, get wet

-[Protegete del sol]

Protect yourself from the sun

-[Busca lugares frescos]

Look for cool places

-[Reduce los esfuerzos fisicos]

Keep physical efforts to a minimum

-[En las horas mas calurosas del dia]

During the hottest parts of the day

-[Cuida que niños, ancianos y enfermos sigas estos consejos]

Make sure that children, the elderly and the sick follow this advice

-[Combatir el calor esta en tus manos]

To fight the heat is in your hands

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unit 04 - infographics

hi folks.

seeing as quite a few of you missed this afternoon's session [for various reasons], i thought i'd upload the brief here, so you can all get a chance to peruse it over the weekend.  i'm sure you'd much rather be doing that than going out drinking, taking drugs and having fun.

unit04 - brief

also, here are links to the two playlists of example infographic animations we showed you - just in case you wanted to look at any of them again:

vimeo playlist

youtube playlist


anyone who missed the introduction of the new brief this avvy, make sure and have a chat to alex, dave or me before embarking on anything, so we can make sure you understand what's required of you.

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New Designers exhibition

Hello,

I don't know if any of you guys have started to think about the third year (top up year), well I have. I have been thinking about where to go, which uni, which city, if I'm staying in Manchester or not...so many things came into my mind. One of my possibilities is to go to London, and do my third year there. It's not that I don't like Manchester, but after this year and a half here I know this isn't my place, so I thought London could be exciting- a bit scary at first though!

Anyway, I've heard they have a really good exhibition there, it starts after the Degree shows and contains all the best works from Art universities. I believe this is a good way to get to know what London's art courses are like.
The exhibition starts the first days of July. (see website for more details!)


New Designers: http://www.newdesigners.com/page.cfm/Link=1/t=m/goSection=1

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FAC 251

Attention party people!!

Have a look at this. It's a new club in our fair city brought to us by one of guys that brought us The Hacienda, namely Peter Hook. Hooky famously lost a fortune when The Hac eventually closed it's doors for good, 'around ten million' I heard him say recently in an interview.

The Hacienda was a bit before my time, only by a couple of years though, but i'm sure you've all heard of the legendary nights there and how it shaped the wider national and international music scene.

It opened on the 5th of this month.

Here's a review of the opening night and a few vids -

http://www.whathappenedlastnight.net/manchester/venue/fac%20251

And here's the website, which is pretty cool too -

http://www.factorymanchester.com/

It's so hip it's twisting me melon man

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www.northernfutures.co.uk

I found this new annual art and design awards event.It's a shame their website isn't working right now.Good start...

Anyway when it eventually works,check it out as I am yet to see it myself.It's been mentioned on the BBC and other websites such as Design Week and Creative Review.

It's dedicated to designers of the North!

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Review: Cash

So it's a Friday night and you're not going out. What a better way to spend it then rent a DVD and chill out. So we did this and one of the DVD's we rented out was Cash (Well, I say 'We' when I didn't even pick it out...honest). To say the least, I have never ever heard of this film and I don't think it had a cinema release.

The film stars Sean Bean who is a relatively famous actor and has had some good roles in films and programmes such as Sharpe (a long-running programme 1993-2008), Goldeneye and Lord of The Rings. The film also stars some dude called Chris Hemsworth who was once in Neighbours.

Anyway the film is basically about a couple who struggle with money and life and then come across a large sum of money after a robbery had gone wrong. One of the people who was involved in the robbery, Sean Bean, gets sent to prison. His twin brother, also Sean Bean, visits him in prison and then sets out to find out where their money has gone. Needless to say the couple have quit their 'dead-end' jobs and gone on a spending spree and spent a fair bit of this stolen 'Cash'. Sean Bean's character has an obsession for everything to be exact, especially the amount of money that was stolen and the amount the couple had spent. He makes them retrieve all of their receipts and count up the amount that they have spent.

In the summary of the film it says the couple are made to cheat, lie and steal. In the film they do a fair bit of lying, almost cheat and steal...from convenience stores and a bank to make the money back that they have spent. Not as intense as the summary makes the film sound out to be as it lacks in some more action.

We sat there for an hour and felt like the film hadn't really got going. With some more action it could probably be a better then just below average film. I wouldn't really recommend it as I don't feel the need in wanting to watch it again.

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Cancelled Train

I just wanted to share my annoyance!! The half 7 train I get to Liverpool has been cancelled and therefore I miss the change over to get me to Manchester. I have walked back home, and waiting for the next one, which should get me into Manchester for 10am!

Silly, silly trains!

Could one of you possibly design me a hover craft which gets me into college in 10 mins - that would be much appreciated.

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The Gadget Show: Music Video Challenge

I've been meaning to post this all week, it was from last Mondays episode of 'The Gadget Show'. Every week the team have challenges against each other in different areas of gadgetry (or 'gadge' as one them puts it) to determine the best in terms of performance, cost effectiveness and just general overall usage.
In this particular episode they had a music video challenge whereby one member of the team, Suzi, would be directing a team using the very best professional equipment available to the big boys of the industry....and other team member, Jason, would be producing his video using affordable consumer tech.

The object of the challenge was not specifically to find out which gadgets were the best in this instance because obviously the pro kit is the best here, the challenge was to see who could create the best music video using the tools they had. After they were finished, both videos were shown to two industry experts to decide which was the best.


This was Suzi's vid, obviously the pro kit....




And this was Jason's vid, the budget shoot production....




In the end the experts had positive comments about both videos, perhaps more so towards Jason's efforts. But in conclusion they picked the professional looking video from Suzi as the winner.

I was really disappointed.
From purely a professional looking and quality perspective it's obvious that the pro kit is far superior in everyway, but the challenge was to make the best music video....not the best quality music video....and for me personally I felt that Jason's excelled as a clear winner because of this.
All I see when I watch the professionally produced video is the same tired commercial style that i've seen a million times over....."ok guys, let's get the band in an aircraft hanger, lots of random lighting, and just have them perform into the camera throughout.....winner!" ...the same format which been repeated over and over for the past 10 years. I found it boring, unimaginative and typical of the commercial music industry.

Jason's low budget video was clearly of a much lower quality and in places quite badly pixelated, which on one side is in line with the rugged tone of the settings. I felt that there were a number of shots in there which were really quite bad and I think they could have tried a little harder to get a better take rather than settling with what they had, other than this I thought that the music video was very creative....there was a basic kind of narrative to carry it through, some of the shot angles were quite nice and also some creative use of overhead views. In general a creative video that kept my interest throughout.

The judges did echo some of these points of creativity that went into Jason's production, but in the end they went for the quality.
It's disappointing to think that creativeness counts for virtually nothing in a commercial world.

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Kina Granis Music Video

This lady is super talented!! Her music is all on youtube - so for sure have a listen. Recently she has made a music video (see below). I love the whole feel of the film, the colours etc. Also, the general narrative of the music video is sweeet - the flip board style movement which is created using VHS tapes. Have a little look - may be some inspiration for further projects.

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Ford Focus TV advert

Everyone must have seen it by now, it's on every five minutes. It's in my head constantly.

I keep stopping to think about this advertisement whenever I see it on TV, it doesn't seem outrageously original or creative as i've seen many people replicate similar effects before using their own cameras with ease. I myself haven't used an SLR camera since I took a short course in photography back in 2000 so I have no idea thus far how to create this light effect, all I know is that it's mainly to do with the shutter speed.

Regardless, this isn't what fascinates me about this advert at all. As the advert proceeds; the light strokes draw figures relating to the campaigns theme of Attraction, and it is the way in which these figures are presented which keeps me thinking about it. The variation between the thick and thin of the lines makes them seem (well, to me at least) like old barbershop charicatures or I dunno....Moroccan or Greek illustrations?
Perhaps the advert having been filmed in Portugal had something to do with it? ...who knows....but it's a very distinct style that i've somewhere in some area of European illustration before. And to see it in this kind of advert seems like a strange mix, but I guess it worked for them as it has stuck in my mind ever since it's first broadcast.

It's just a shame for them i'm not interested in buying a car! ....such a pity.




As a side note to this, one of the light figures in the advert is of the famous side-walk pose of Marilyn Monroe from her film 'The Seven Year Itch'. Having seen the movie myself I always find it a little odd that this image is used so often....as it doesn't actually feature in the movie itself, all that is shown during the scene is a low shot of her legs. That one full promo shot photographed at the time is actually a million times more famous than the film itself.....I mean, who ever talks about 'The Seven Year Itch'? ....nobody.

I remember the film actually had a pretty neat title sequence for it's time.

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Yulia Brodskaya

Hi everyone
I been so busy with the title sequence brief that I forgot about a designer I been looking at, She called Yulia Brodskaya (http://www.artyulia.com/). She created hand made Papergraphs typography, which is just amazing and just worth a look.

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Ron Mueck

Yesterday I went to see Avatar, I thought that after 2 months it would be fine to go without pre-booking, well...of course I was wrong wasn't I.
So for the 3 hours to kill between the sold out showing we were intending to see and the next showing which we subsequently booked for, me and my friend Jim decided to have a wander around Manchester Art Gallery and see what they're currently exhibiting on the higher levels.

On the top level there was a brilliant collection of sculptures and artworks by east-asian artists which is well worth a look at....but....as we moved next door to the next exhibit, as we passed through the hallway and an incredibly large head came into view my mouthed dropped open. It was a collection of scultures by a 'hyper-realist' artist called Ron Mueck and each one was basically just a sculpture of a person, but the amount of detail in each is what captures your interest and really amazes you.

In the first piece that I'd noticed first from the hallway, a giant head, as I got up close to it the realistic qualities became even more intricate, a distinct shine on the inside of the eyes made them look wet in a subtle but again all too real manner....this was what really fascinated me about the work.

His is a name that I will not forget in a hurry, and to anyone who is in Manchester this half-term...I urge you to take 10 minutes to bob in and have a look.

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Twinings advert

Super cool and original advert! Must have taken them ages!!!

Check it out :)

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Status Icons

I was asked to produce 14 icons for a new Photography forum. I was given the headings, and using Illustrator, I created vector images for the website. Here are a few of them;

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Reviews

Two Reviews which I used for my VRF - semiotics;

1. Think, Don’t drink and drive Print Advert

This advert was in the ‘Onecouncil’ magazine (One council magazine, November 09 edition), which is an informative magazine about local news, and events. The audience therefore that would see this magazine is an elder target audience. This mirrors the audience for the ‘Think’ advert. The purpose is to inform people about the consequences of drinking and driving.

The iconography of this advert is immediately hard hitting. This has been done through numerous of methods. Firstly, the typography. The main type is a very simple font and easy to read. This signifies that the context of this advert is formal and serious. The type is also a question ‘How much will your next round cost you?’ This is an effective way to reach an audience because people who see the advert will reply to the question without realizing. They will therefore want to see the rest of the advert to find the answer. This will therefore expand the target audience greatly, and fits in with the context of the advert. As it is in a magazine, people will skip past advertisements, so the question will make them stop. This question could be referring to range of subjects. However, the main image anchors the preferred meaning to alcohol.

The alcohol is a very iconic sign because people know immediately what it is. An audience can therefore empathise with the image. The shapes of the bottles denote the different variety of alcohol but it could also connote the different types of people in society, for e.g. beer signifies the men, the wine represents women. This could also connote a group of friends, and therefore connects the image immediately with its audience. However, there is a twist. The typography on the bottles look like the original, but the content is actually the risks of drinking, for e.g ’12 month driving ban’. This is very interesting and clever. The audience will find it humorous and also read the message the advert is sharing without realizing. This technique is very successful in the society we live in today where people are always busy and reading magazines on the go.

The mise en scene of this advertisement is a pub. This is a very well known situation, and therefore believable for an audience. This ‘true’ scene signifies honesty, which mirrors the honesty of what Think are telling the audience. Therefore people will take the message more seriously.

The colours in this image are not very bright. The darkness signifies a very serious mode of address and produces the myth that this is how you will feel if you drink and drive. Your life will become very dark and dull.

The ‘Think’ logo place in the bottom right of the page is a very symbolic sign. Even though the word Think is a very well known english word, in this context it signifies a well established company. Therefore it signifies that the advert is professional. This is also anchored by the website included on the bottom right of the page. These techniques are all very subtle but adds to the success of the advert.

In conclusion, this advert successfully does what it aims to do. Think are not a money making company; they are not persuading people to buy a product. Instead they have to get a message across. This advert effectively does this, in a very simple, hard hitting way. Even if people just skip past the poster, they would know what it was telling you. They use humour, and photo effects to come across as a modern company and reach their target audience. This advert is also effective because it could be used in all different types of mediums, for e.g. billboard, or side of a bus.



2. After Eight Print Advert

This print advert was in ‘Now’ magazine (Now magazine, 9th December 2009), which is a popular celebrity gossip advert. Therefore the audience would be mostly women, who are interested in celebrities, news, and socialising. The purpose is to persuade the audience to buy After Eights.

The iconography of this advert is simple and sophisticated, with a green background. This dark green signifies the mint in After Eights, but also during this time of the year it also signifies christmas. Therefore it will make the audience feel festive, and feel good. The green colour is darker around the outsider, and gradually fades into the middle. This denotes a spotlight, and signifies that the chocolate is in the spotlight and everyone should be looking at it because it stands out.

The chocolate image is a very visual sign, and definitely engages women. The image is thin which denotes the shape of the chocolate but also connotes that the chocolate isn't too heavy, it is light. This is effective for a woman target audience because they are very conscious about weight. The slim, smooth look also signifies a sophisticated style of chocolate which is a very aspirational attribute for a woman. The shape of the chocolate is also in the position of a door opening. One of the preferred meaning of the imagery is anchored by the text ‘No one leaves’. The open door signifies that every one is welcome to the party and no one will be leaving. However, the other caption anchors a different meaning. ‘There’s a safe line between a nice dinner party and an unforgettable one’. Therefore the position of the chocolate also signifies the thin line, and that the chocolate is what makes the difference to a party. This variation of the chocolate tells the audience that it can do more than one thing.

The Typography used for the logo ‘After Eight’ is very elegant and written in script. This style of handwriting signifies sophistication, but also an older person. This anchors the target audience but could also connote the chocolate as being wise - signifying it has been around for a while. The elegant writing also mirrors the narrative in which the advert creates, about holding a dinner party with friends.

The tag line ‘No-one leaves’ is humorous and fun, which makes the product seem personal. It may also give the audience a challenge to make their next dinner party, even better. This is also anchored by the website at the bottom ‘Throw a great dinner party visit aftereight.co.uk’. This makes the product cross media, and more interactive for an audience. This is engaging because it signifies that you are buying more than just chocolate.

Overall, this advert is very successful. It fits in well with the context of the magazine because they main message is in the middle and an audience will take it in quickly. They have included the scientific information at the bottom of the page ‘Made with 100% natural peppermint oil’ because that is not the most important type. However, for people who are interesting it is another unique selling point for After Eights. Through previous adverts and this one, they have created a very iconic image for their product. A sophisticated chocolate, using the colours green and gold. This is their selling point to stand out from other chocolate.

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Magazine advert Review

It is an advert for a nail polish called O.P.I. The image sets a model posing with her back turned. She is pouring nail polish on her body, the polish is becoming a dress.

The way this poster is designed reveals the quality of the product - it's simple but really effective.

The contrast made by the "nail polish dress" and the black background makes your eyes go directly to the red "dress".

The product brand combined with the slogan "Wear O.P.I" is in the middle of the image, which makes it very important and noticeable. It will be for sure the second thing you would look at, also because it's just next to the main element - the texture of the dress.

The typography is simple - they have chosen a simple serif font and a red colour that matches the nail polish, although the red it's not that bright on the font.

The slogan contains a wordplay, that is supported by the element of the dress.

As the name of the product (nail polish) it is not entirely established, the liquid that the girl pours had to be very realistic, so at first view you immediately recognize it's nail polish.

The texture of the liquid is absolutely successful, although in the upper part of her body - in the nape of her neck, it is not very effective as it looks too cartoony.

I love this advert, I think it works very well.

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league table

here we go again folks.  it's that time again, when i upload the latest league standings.

interestingly, some of the second years who have applied to go onto the degree courses at MMU next year have been receiving letters, inviting them to submit a 'digital portfolio' in the form of a blog containing 10-12 examples of their work, plus around 300 words discussing the work,  themselves and why they want to do the course they've applied for.

this is just for the right to earn yourself an interview.  yes folks - you've all heard the news stories about how universities are turning people away in their thousands this year.  well, they're true.  you've got to put a lot of effort in just to get even to the interview stage, these days.

if, as looks likely,  this is the wave of the future, then those of you who are in the habit of regularly recording their working processes digitally [like those lovely folks towards the top of this league table] are going to have plenty of ammunition to work with, come this time next year.  those of you who have been slightly er... 'less prolific' should ask yourselves what you're going to do, if you suddenly find yourselves clutching a letter giving you 14 days notice to get a digital portfolio together.

just a friendly hint!

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I'm a FOOL!

ok, I was out in Deansgate Saturday night aaaand, Jays (the boyfs) old workmate was there, I was too shy to say anything to her though. Nothing strange you may think.... but this person was an exception. You see, she works on some films for Tim Burton. Whats that you say? This little tale just got more interesting? Oh yes, yes she does. She worked on Corpse Bride, oh and Fantastic Mister Fox. Though I dont think thats Tim Burton, but it had George Clooney among other big stars work on it. So its a pretty big deal. So kill me. KIll me now. If I am not in Tuesday it is because I am dead.

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Poster

I am always on the look out for new quotes. I love feel good books, and learning different ways of seeing things.

I quickly made a little poster and thought I would share;

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Work Space

Hello all,

I am currently sitting in Starbucks with my mac, and wanted to share the joy...

I have been sitting here for the best of 3 hours working on my Animation, and it does wonders! The atmosphere of being here, makes you work extra hard, and moreover ENJOY it! I am really pleased with the progress and advise you lot out there to divulge into finding your 'working space'. I think I definitely found mine.. Liverpool Starbucks, with a cuppa. Brilliant.

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Cool Beans...

Like most students I have a pooer of a part time job BUT one of the dudes I work with told me about this website.

It is rather Epic.It's a big design company called Salvador Design.They mainly work in the TV and Music industry.Never been on a website like theres though.

Check it outttttttt!!

www.SalvadorDesign.co.uk

Ciao!

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