For my ad analysis I will use WSINYE guidelines (Golombisky & Hagen, 2010) – pg. 32- 13
Amateur Layout Errors.
1. Centering Everything- The ad breaks
this rule by centering everything. The reason behind not centering is because
the eye has a hard time finding the “entry point”- pg 33
2. Warped or Naked Photos- the photo looks
great and to scale.
3. Too Many Fonts- only two fonts are used
and only 2 colors.
4. Bulky Borders or Boxes- everything is
naturally bordered without a need for an actual box around the words
5. Cheated or Missing Margins- There is a
natural boarder around the ad separating the image and text from the edge.
6. Stairstepping- at least this horror was
prevented.
7. 4 Corners and clutter- there is no
clutter in the corners, which makes the ad look clean
8. Trapped negative space- there is no
trapped negative space. The available space is used efficiently
9. Busy backgrounds- while the background
is not “busy” it certainly is bright. On the other hand, this certainly screams
McDonalds, so even if people didn’t recognize the name “Angus 3rd
pounder”, based on the ad design they would know that this was available at
McD.
10. Tacky type emphasis
a. Reversing- The while isn’t that bad but
the orange on red is certainly hard to read
b. Stroking- not used
c. All caps- Used for emphasis and while
it’s “a sin” it certainly doesn’t look bad
d. Underlining- the underlining seems
random. There really is no reason to underline “third pounders” so it seems out
of place.
11. Bad bullets- no bullets were used
12. Widows and orphans- “Delux” is a single
word on its own line. It would have been better to combine it with the “Third
Pounders” line above.
13. Justified Rivers- nothing is justified
but considering it’s centered, justifying things may have been a better idea.
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Overall, I like the ad because whoever created it really
knows the audience and I can tell right away for which fast food restaurant the
advertisement is for. I don’t like that everything is centered and I really don’t
like the orange on red font color.
ironically...after looking at my blog template/ colors I decided to change the design...red background with white letters?! What was I thinking!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is funny about you making the change - you are learning fast :) I like your new background better.
DeleteNatalia
Hi Katie-
ReplyDeleteWhomever put this ad together seemed as if they knew what they were doing. You could have also added that they limited the use of pictures too. By limiting them, your eye goes right to the delicious burger! I do agree with the orange font on the red background. It makes it very hard read and strains the eyes. I really like that they kept the information brief and to the point.
With your exercise, I do identify. I am definitely not an artist myself and I found that I am better at analyzing and appreciating that taking the time out to create. It must have been difficult to play around with all those shapes to see what works and what doesn't. But after you look at it, you realize that it is all about how we communicate, and how to do it more effectively.
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on many points. For example, I also appreciated the natural border, but did not care for the orange font on the red background. On the other hand, I do not agree that it is easy to tell that this is an ad for McDonalds. I do think that you can easily tell whether this is McDonalds or Burger King. I think it could benefit from having their small M logo somewhere on the page.
Also, I liked the underline because I think it makes it "Angus Third Pounders" stand out as their trademark. So it is as if they are saying we don't need to write McDonalds because writing "Angus Third Pounders" is already part of our brand name and therefore is underlined as so. But, like I said earlier, I do not think this should be assumed, unless they designed this ad for customers that they already have.
Hollyn
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteAhhh I love the colleagial exchange I'm reading between you and Natalia regarding the blog background changes. One of the most glaring issues my previous students have failed to observe time and time again (despite successful completion of the Mini Art School unit) is the design of their own blog to which they're posting rules about the very sins they're committing themselves! That said, I don't know which background you had previously, but I am glad to see that it's improved from your original choice.
You did an excellent job of articulating the layout sins that were adhered to and broken in this McDonald's ad. I'm in agreement with each of the points you made above!
Nicely done!
Erica
The previous color was this horrid red that sort of jumped out at me when I was creating the blog. After reading about the rules I was slightly ashamed that it even appealed to me LOL so I had to change it to something better.
Delete