Saturday, September 26, 2009

Irony, Exaggeration, Metaphor

For this Art Direction II assignment, we were to choose a brand of interest, and then create 3 separate ads. The first one dealing with irony, the second one exaggeration, and a third ad acting as a metaphor without using copy, only a visual and logo.

The brand I chose was Shure SE210 In-ear Headphones. They're
sound isolating, and so I wanted to focus on that benefit. In fact they isolate sound so well that you can virtually hear nothing at all when you put them on. Clear, crisp, quality music is the result of wearing Shure Headphones, and those are the benefits I wanted to convey in my ads.

















Before jumping on the computer and executing my ads, I needed ideas. And so, I sketched quite a few thumbnails in order to get as many ideas
as possible. I found The Kickstart Catalogue from Mario Pricken's Creative Advertising, to be quite helpful in the ideation process.






















I went for a minimalist approach for my irony ad. The tag-line reads, "less noise sounds better." In this case, less is more. I decided to keep the rest of the page white to heighten the impact of the tag-line, logo and call to action at the bottom. There is less noise on the page visually, and less noise in your ears with Shure Headphones.























For my exaggeration piece I had the idea of bringing dead musicians back to life. This could be expanded into a campaign potentially. I took the Apollo Theater Marquee sign and manipulated it into the Shure Theater. The headline read
s boldly, "The King of Pop Like You've Never Heard Before." Not only is it timely, but it exaggerates by bringing Michael back to life through the clarity of Shure Headphones. Listening to MJ on your Shure Headphones is equivalent to hearing him live, minus all of the noisy fans of course.






















My final ad was to be metaphorical with a visual and logo only. I will let the visual speak for itself.

Why Do You Do What You Do?

For our first assignment in my Art Direction II class, we were asked to answer the question, "why do you do what you do?" through graphic and type.






















"Because existence is interdependent" means that
we are all reliant on each other as a human species. I know one reason I'm here is to help other people, and so I try my best to be there for my family and friends when they need me most. We're not isolated. We are all connected, and thus, the circle is a link, a symbol, that is representative of US as a whole.






















"Because of a hole in one" is meant to be playful. When you know you've found the one, it'
s as sweet as a hole in one. I chose the simple typeface because that is what Love should be, simple.

















"Because I love white space" is pretty obvious. Perhaps the most important technique a designer has in his arsenal is the use of white space. Not only is it simplistic, but it just looks good.

Not My Typical Saturday

Titled Not My Typical Saturday: A Photo Story from my Converses' Perspective, this is my first photography assignment. Taken for my design for Journalists course, I choose to photograph my Saturday, because normally, Saturday's are very uneventful for me. The decision to shoot in b&w was because as I went about my day, I noticed that I came across many strong visual representations such as temple banners in the Bell Tower shot, the H&M signage, the American flag, and that special someone's pink Converse. And so I thought the images would have more visual impact if I made everything b&w except those strong visual representations.

All in all, this project was a fun and interesting one. It made me pay closer attention to the details in my photographs as well as taught me a lot about how to edit and adjust my images. It made me get out of my comfort zone, get out there and take pictures that I normally would not take.



















Here I am, early in the morning, on a Saturday, waiting patiently as the R7 train to Center City, Philadelphia approaches.























Destination, Temple University. Here's a shot of the infamous Bell Tower that I cross everyday and on this particular desolate morning. Yawn, now it's time for me to head into work at the Howard Gittis Student Center.
























Alone at work, on a Saturday with nothing to do but read blogs, do homework and stare at the decorated wall in front of me. What a life.























Work's done. Just caught the Broad Street Line into City Hall. I can't help but notice a dank smell of urine and spacious skylines. Time to explore the area.























William Penn atop the City Hall Tower. It's astonishing every time I see it.























Ah, H&M, one of my favorite places to shop. Stylish and affordable and it's always got me thinking red.

















The Kimmel Center, such a classy and elegant place. I've always imagined what it would be like performing in a place like this.


















Feet are tired. Time to head home. Suburban seems like the closest train station. Another 15 minutes until I'm fast asleep aboard the R7 as sweet symphonies of Beethoven prove to be quite soothing.



















And the best part of my day. Coming home to that 'special' someone. All you really need is love.