Design or Disaster?

     As I was riding the train with Elena Constantinou, I was looking around and saw this ad. I felt terrible saying it because it is for a good cause, but it has an awful design. However, the first thing I noticed was that this ad contained white space, so it had one aspect of a good design. Golombisky & Hagen (2010) refer to the busy background as a "sin" and that, "Background shouldn't interfere with your visual communication, " (p. 38). So, one thing that is worth noting is that this ad does not have a busy background and it doesn't interfere with the visual communication. But, what is it actually communicating?
      The top should always have the visual because that is what the viewer sees first (Golombisy & Hagen, 2010). So, there is no visual at the top of this ad which would attract our viewers. It actually has a centered "headline" at the top followed by a centered "caption" if you'd like to call it that. Another sin (number 6 to be exact) Golombisky & Hagen's White Space is Not Your Enemy (2010). There are also other rules that were broken according to this text. What is going on with the columns? Are there columns? Should there be columns? Yes. Take a look at the bottom of the ad. The writing is not aligned at all. It goes from longer sentences to shorter to two words to three words to a URL, etc. Big no-no. If the ad was separated into two columns at the bottom, the text would be aligned and more pleasing to the audience's eye. When I first looked at it, I didn't want to read it because it just looked so choppy. Since the writing is not aligned, there is some "trapped negative space". According to Golombisky & Hagen (2010), "Trapped space is a puddle of negative space landlocked inside the layout. It's like a bubble that can't escape," (p. 38). There is literally a bubble of negative space starting below the word "launch" and extended to the word "and". If the words were aligned in some sort of column, that bubble would not exist. Sin! Furthermore, while I am on the topic of that writing, Golombisky & Hagen (2010) suggest that tags go in the lower right corner. If we take the last sentence, "Enter today at D3NJ.org and your creative ideas can win valuable prizes" and swap it to say, "Your creative ideas can win valuable prices. Enter today at D3NJ.org," then the URL tag would be in the lower right hand corner. According to Golombisky & Hagen (2010), "Tags, if you need them, are the final things you want your viewers to see," (p. 26). Since this ad needs a tag, we can rearrange the last two sentences to have the tag in the lower right hand corner, thus being the last thing the viewer sees.
      As Margaret was stating in her interview, it is extremely important to brainstorm and review your work before sending it out as a final copy. Now, did anyone notice the way the ad spells campaign? That's right, it is shown as "campaing" on the poster that is on public transportation.  Are you kidding? How do you not use spell check for an ad?....That is going on public transportation? Yikes.
      In Jim Krause's Design Basics Index (2004), emphasis is an element that a design should have. What is the emphasis here? Krause states, "A clear order of visual dominance between elements not only helps attract attention to a piece, it serves to guide the viewer's eye through it's content," (p. 64). There is no element here that has dominance over the others. How can this ad draw attention with no visual dominance? The headline and website at the bottom are basically the same font size. The "New Car" and "College Scholarship", along with the description under the headline are all the same font size as well. This needs an element of visual dominance. Also, while I am on the subject of fonts, how many fonts do you think are used in this ad? My guess is about 5. Golombisky & Hagen (2010) suggest no more than 2 fonts, which I agree because it is just tacky and all over the place. It isn't easy on the viewer's eye.
        Krause also explains how grouping is important to a design. The visuals should have some association. In this ad, the visuals are just for what you could win if they pick your idea. However, what about visuals for the actual campaign they want teens to create? These visuals are what the winners get, but if we really take a look at the second one for college scholarship- what is that? I understand there is a cap, but a cap could just be for graduation. The ad could use visuals representing a college scholarship. What about a picture of a college? A visual that may relate more to college scholarships could be cap, gown, and diploma. Krause emphasizes how the images should relate to the headline, but the headline in this case is "Teens!". There could be better associations between the headline and images given (and even a better headline).
         The color is also an issue in this ad. There are three different colors used for the fonts: orange, gray, and black. The logo on the bottom has red and black. Krause emphasizes how color should emphasis a word or phrase. Here, the orange (which is the brightest) gives emphasis to "Teens!" which does represent trying to get the attention of a teen, but it is also used for D3. The whole layout of the color is unrelated and the pictures should add some color for emphasis, which they do not.

Overall, I think that this design has potential to be something even better than what it is. The spell check really boggles my mind. I wonder what the new teen safe driving "campaing" will be.....

References:

Golombisky, K., & Hagen, R. (2010). White Space is not Your Enemy: A Beginner’s Guide to Communicating Visually through Graphic, Web & Multimedia Design. Focal Press: New York, NY.

 

Krause, J. (2004). Design Basics Index: A Graphic Designer’s Guide to Designing Effective Compositions, Selecting Dynamic Components & Developing Creative Concepts. HOW Design Books: Cincinnati, OH.