EXPANDED OFFICE HOURS

Hello, everyone!

It was great to see some of ya'll at the help session this afternoon.

As promised I'm posting expanded office hours for this week both to make up for the holiday on Monday (when my hours normally are 1-3) and also to make sure I'm as available as possible to help on your designs due Thursday.

Tuesday: 10am-12:30pm (right before class); 2-6pm (after)
Wednesday: 1-2pm

If none of these work with your schedule, e-mail me! I have other availabilities for appointments and we can certainly work something out. Hope you have a great holiday tomorrow - if you're around Newhouse, check out the public diplomacy panel at 2pm featuring David Pogue (NYT tech editor) and Marjane Satrapi (of Persepolis fame). This isn't for extra credit, but it looks like an awesome panel.

V8 isn't just about veggies, anymore!

This advertisement for the new V8 fusion drink appeared in 'Shape,' a woman's fitness magazine. It uses justified type and an even amount of kerning, as well as a large point font size. The ad is hierarchically efficient, because the eye obviously enters through the word "fruit," then scans above and below to the words "love" and "married." The eye then continues to the natural exist point, the bottom right, where the ad utilizes product placement as one final reminder.

This ad is effective because of it's bold font and black lettering. Black might ordinarily be an unusual color for an attention-grabbing typeface, but maybe it worked here because it starkly contrasts the colorful nature of the ad on the opposite page of the spread (like most ads in this publication). The play off of 'love' and 'marriage' point to a deeper message embedded within the ad: the fruits and veggies have married to form a better, more well-rounded v8 product, and if you drink it, you too can reap the benefits of love and marriage that have come together to form a more well-rounded 'you.'

The bottles themselves starkly contrast the black font used in the lettering for emphasis on the product, which promotes shelf recognition. The letters blend right into the lids of the fruit drinks, drawing the eye even further down into the product and logo. One possible design flaw here is that the very recognizable "V8" brand is not as bold in this advertisement. They used red (a warm color that attracts the eye's attention) to highlight the fact that they were offering a coupon for the product if only the customer visits the website, which promotes further interaction with the company and brand.
The chosen typeface is effective because it's bold yet soft (almost delicate, like fruit, yet still sophisticated). There are small serifs on the letter R's. The corners on this font are rounded, and they selected one with all caps, counters that are long and narrow, and a tall x-height. It got my attention!

Incorrect type rules... or is it?

Upon seeing this picture, I realized that with some irony, the kerning in this picture is done perfectly while the technically-incorrect aspect of the type is the spacing. However, it is not so easy to simply dismiss lack of spacing the way we maybe could have a few decades ago. Nowadays the lack of spacing can be seen every now and again in print ads, and as long as it's only two or three words, it gives off a sort of trendy appearance if handled correctly.

What's important about utilizing the lack of spacing is to "replace" it, in a sense, with some sort of other means of differentiating the words from one another. In this instance, the changing of colors helps separate the two different components, but what also helps is the clear, concise sans serif typeface. With the addition of serifs or other further complications in type with no spacing, it would become much more difficult to distinguish the different words from each other. Lack of spacing is something we see more and more of nowadays in messages aimed at younger crowds, possibly the crowd who often neglects grammatical rules in their own typing.

What's next, no leading being seen as cool?

Good Hierarchy

This ad displays a great use of hierarchy with not only word placement but with color, size, and typeface. The message is for someone to be a hero for the community by becoming a pharmacist. I like how the "Be a Hero" statement is in a warm color that compliments the images and stands out on the page. The "Hero" definitely catches your eye as the biggest image on the page directing you to read the rest of the information below it. The quirky typeface is not to overdone where it is hard to read or looks out of place. I like how "Be A" are smaller because they are just unimportant words that are needed as grammatical compliments to the message. I know exactly where to enter on this page and whith a quick glance I can get the basic information from just reading the text in red. I enter at hero and exit at the little passage mentioning leadership opportunities. The small passage in black text gets lost and at first I forgot to read it. It blends in and is easily over-looked it should be done in maybe a bolder or larger font. All in all the meassage is displayed clearly and it catches my eye with warm color use.

I found this ad to be both effective and catchy for several reasons.  The background picture went perfectly with the caption, and the green color of the font made for the perfect contrast. The warm colors on the bottom of the page with the tent and the logo being similar in color help to draw attention to the product being advertised. On page 67 of the Lupton book, she says, "Design is as much an act of spacing as an act of marking." This applies to this ad because the spacing between the two lines of type was done very well. The headline is readable and relevant for the ad as a whole.  The kerning is well done as well; the words are spaced fairly evenly. The designer went with flush left/ragged right alignment which worked well with the headline used and the space available, using the page effectively.  In case the reader doesn't recognize the North Face slogan, the logo is placed at the exit point of the page which ties the ad together nicely.  Overall, all elements of this page complement each other well.

This Extra Gum ad caught my eye immediately. The use of warm colors which make the ad pop off the page and attract the readers eye is contrasted by the cool purple color used to outline both the brand's name, as well as the word "new". Both words stand off the page so the reader can decipher what is being advertised as well as that the product is new. The detailing surrounding the package of gum gives the illusion of movement, as if there is an explosion taking place on the page and draws the readers eye to the text at the right of the image. The slogan "Sip Your Gum" is written in the largest most dominant type size of all of the type on the page and demands the most attention. While there is text above this large slogan, the fact that the top text is smaller, it doesn't avert attention from the text below it, which is to be read first. The reader sees this large phrase first and then continues to read on below to the smaller font which ends off the ad and solidifies the brands slogan. Overall I think that visually this ad does a good job of guiding the reader through the text to convey the product's message.

Hierarchy

This Pantene ad does a good job of using hierarchy, because the text successfully leads the reader's eye to the product.  The diagonal line stands out in it's white color, and the point directs you to the Pantene logo at the bottom right of the page.  The placement of the "Don't cut split ends, stop them" is appropriately placed in the center of the page, because readers don't usually start at the top of the page.  The logo is perfectly placed at the bottom right of the page, because this is where the eye will end up.  The use of color works well with the white and black shampoo bottle on the lower left hand side of the page.  Furthermore, serif text is used to create a sleek, clean look, making one think the product will make one's hair look shiny and clean.  The simplicity of this ad is fitting.  There is no need to over explain the Pantene product.  I feel the ad works. 

 

This next ad is done horribly.  There is nothing to lead the eye.  The only thing that stands out in this ad is the word cholesterol.  I will say that orange, being the color to stand out the most, is a good choice, but this good choice doesn't lead you anywhere.  There is no orange anywhere else in the ad.  The logo, even though located at the bottom right, has a color that does not draw the eye.  The font chosen for the text is very hard to read with white on a black background.  While reading this, my eyes were strained.  Overall, I feel there is too much going on in this ad.  I think it would have been more effective to make the ad with less text.  The text and lack of direction makes me wonder where to start first.

-Briana Bartel

Hierarchy and Color

This advertisement immediately caught my eye and incites feelings of both good uses and bad uses of type. I feel like the ad is set up in a manner that clearly gets the advertisement across. The hierarchy of text is very obvious and it is easy to see that chewing a piece of five gum will be a "fiery experience". The cues are clear as your eye is drawn from the headline in the text to the graphic at the bottom of the page. The fact that both the graphic and headline are very large adds to the sense of hierarchical order. The vision of the advertisement is clear and one can see what the advertiser had envisioned. On the other hand I feel like the typeface used in the heading may be a little unreadable. Upon first look I could not tell if the "f" was an "h" because of its kerning in relation to the i. Also, the body of the ad is hard to read against the warm background. I think it would be hard to put any content on this ad against such a warm color Any color of text against this background would become virtually illegible. The colors, heading and graphic on this ad make it one that will be remembered, but the body of the ad gets lost in the fire.

Hierarchy in Ads

I felt that this Secret ad on the left was a good example of visual hierarchy. The colors are very bright which makes it visually appealing. Your eye is immediately drawn to the whites in the photo: from her shirt, to her sunglasses, and then to the product. The text in the ad is minimal, but stands out from the background and is set in a large size which makes it easy to read. The black from the text box then wraps around the product, drawing your eye to what the company is trying to sell. This is the last thing that your eye sees before you turn the page, so the name of the product will easily be remembered. The Olay ad on the right is an example of poor use of visual hierarchy in advertising. When I first looked at this ad my eye didn't know what to stop at first. The product is very large, but the red, pink, and orange colors of the text draw your eye away from it. It's difficult to figure out that the product is rolling over text that says "LINES" and "WRINKLES". The text at the bottom of the page is in several different typefaces and is set in all different sizes, weights, and colors. This confuses the eye because it's not sure what to read first, and most likely gives up before they figure out what the benefits of the product are.

This and THAT!

The ad on the left is a good example of hierarchy. The designer's of this ad directed readers to exactly what was important for them to know. Readers know that the model is new, and the reference to how big it is and how many slugs it has, is important because other ones are most likely bigger and have more slugs (this sets their product apart from others).
On the other hand, the ad on the right is awful. It seems that the designers were going for a hierarchy design--they just weren't very successful. The designers put a jumble of text together, expecting people to know the types of wood machinery they sold, but personally the only thing I read was "Wood Working Machinery" and "Superior to any use. Price reduced to suit the times." Maybe that's all they wanted reader's to read, but I wouldn't buy their products because I don't know what products they sell in the first place! There was definitely a better way to do this, they could definitely take a lesson from the ad on the left!

At The Movies

This first movie poster is an excellent example of hierarchy used efficiently to help the reader receive the desired message. The figure's arms are held up and the hands are turned in as if framing the heading, "This Is It." That heading is in the largest type and reads centered across the top of the page in all caps and black typeface. This leads the reader to think, "What is it?" Now that the reader is pulled in, they are able to read the smaller print explaining the details. Now the reader scans down the page as the image becomes thinner. At this point, the reader can see all the small images within the large one. These contain all of the bright different colors, which appear to be very intriguing. This ad used hierarchy in the most efficient way to portray the message while still building up excitement for what the message is. 

The second advertisement is for a movie called, Surrogates. There's a possibility though, that the reader had no idea this was even a movie ad,  because it looks more like a Bruce Willis campaign. There was poor use of hierarchy here. The most prominent visual is a gigantic picture of Bruce Willis which doesn't tell the reader much or lead them to think it's more than just an ad for him. Although the word, "Surrogates," is in the largest text, it is probably not the first thing the reader looks at. This is because of the warm red color of the words right above it, "Bruce Willis." So once again, this is all about Bruce Willis. This could leave the reader thinking that this is just an ad for Bruce Willis or even that there is a movie called Surrogates, but it's so weak that they need to pump up the big actor's name. 

Space and Linearity

I thought this add in a magazine is a perfect example of how space and linearity are used in typography. The negative space between the painted words is used as a signifier for the reader that translates the type into a conversation. The words themselves are ones of personal discourse and therefore the space between each letter and each word helps to remind the reader that this is an individual's own cry for help. The space is neither concrete or unified but I think in this piece that's what makes it interesting. It's striking in it's ascent from the traditional body of text in an article and sends a far different message than a standard justified paragraph of words. Although this portrays someone's specific conversation or thoughts, it still uses the basic spacing techniques of alphabetic writing. In other words, while it differs from a standard piece, it still uses space between words to make them distinct, readable units that are necessary for translating the sound of speech into writing. Also, traditional text pages contain navigational markers such as indexes, footnotes and table of contents that emerge due to the fixed sequence in the typographic grid of linearity. Linearity is broken in this example in a very bold, and obvious way. While the text still holds some solidarity in its spacing, its non-linear nature is celebrated through the hand-written message and lack of uniformity in the size and nature of each letter and word.

Expressing the meaning of a word

I thought that this Mini Cooper print ad was a good example of how designers often express or emphasize the meaning of copy through the spacing, sizing and placement of the word or phase. In this ad the copy reads "Sorry about the coffee in your face".

The extremely large "S" in sorry gives the ad a sense a motion while it also doubles as the car's tracks. I like the way the rest of the phrase is somewhat hidden in the curvature of the "S" but I think the concept of motion could have been more emphasized if the type was italic and lead out from the part where the "S" curves out and not curves in. I also think that this ad could have benefitted from increased kerning which would have also enhanced the concept of motion.

Bad Kerning

Bad kerning:

The space between the T and the O is so wide that it detracts from a simple stop sign.

In this poster for the new movie "2012" the fist 2 is so far away from the other numbers that it detracts from the poster as a whole. Someone involved with the marketing must have noticed this as well because the in newer posters, like the one featured in the bottom picture, this problem is changed.

EXTRA CREDIT Opportunity

An awesome opportunity to hear from one of the best designers from the renowned Pentagram Design Firm. Some of his work includes the typography for Guitar Hero.

Michael Bierut
"My Life as Font"
Tuesday, Sept. 15 -- 5:00 PM
Slocum Auditorium and the School of Visual and Performing Arts

Post your experience to the blog to receive extra credit.

I actually found the "Full Moon letter press poster" on page 23 of "Thinking with Type" to be really cluttered and difficult to comprehend. At first glance, I would never have imagined it to be an advertisement for a steamship cruise. The wrong key words are highlighted. For instance, probably the most important word on the poster "steamship," is one of the smallest font sizes. Granted, the poster was published in 1875 and they were attempting to display a variety of typefaces, but I feel they were more focused on the revolution of advertising and type then they were about making money off of the steamboat tours. This designer did emphasize the words "Belle" (the name of the steamship, ironically) grand, moonlight, excursion, and the band being featured. All of these concepts suggest something outside the realm of everyday life in 1875, but to me the typefaces don't attract my attention to the correct aspects.
My eye doesn't know where to look first. It's uncomfortable to look from the top to the bottom, even though the letters are "perfectly proportioned." I prefer the more simple, direct type of the Bauhaus style.

copy overkill

While this ad has a catchy header, as a reader I am not motivated to continue reading. The majority of the ad is covered in words, and it doesn't  come off as readable at all.  The designer should have edited the copy down, or at least increased the leading or kerning of the words to make it less intimidating.  The lighter white side on the right of the article also distracts from the words without any obvious benefit graphically.  To make this more readable, I think various uses of the font could have been used.  Instead of keeping everything the same size in the same font, I think it would have been nice if some phrases had been bolded or bigger than others. This could have drawn attention to certain points that the for the reader to remember and take away. Aside from font issues, I'm also unaware of what the product is here.  Adding a logo at the exit point of this page could have clarified that issue.  I think the biggest issue however is simply the excess of type on the page.  Overall, it just does not seem to be an effective ad. I found the "Letter" section of the Lupton book to be very effective in explaining the history of various typefaces, as well as basic definitions such as "x-height" and "spine." It also went into detail regarding font families, and all of the different looks you can get even by just using one font.

This is a definite example of awful type. The "D's" look like the letter "O" and everything is wrong. The kerning between some of the letters seem a little inconsistent, along with the mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters in dinner and holiday; having the "H" lowercase but the "L" in holiday uppercase throws the reader off completely. Also, the random dash at the end of "Dec. 9" is very point less, there is nothing there. Along with the abbreviation of the word December it is not appealing in this case. It's too abrupt, short, and tacky. Finally, the color scheme is very cliche and overdone. It would have been more creative to use holiday objects as letters or something else perhaps.

boring font

This advertisement is for geico car insurance...but I wouldn't even know it was an advertisement in the magazine if I didn't recognize the gecko. The type on the page is too small and too much for the advertisement, not to mention that everything on the page is printed in black and white. Like we learned in class, the best wayt o catch a person's eye is to use color, especially red and yellow. I think this ad needs a little bit of color to catch and engage the reader as we flip through the pages of a magazine. The typography used in the ad is also pretty basic. It looks as if it is the normal, boring Times New Roman, which, to me, just conveys boring and does not make me want to read more about Geico, or anything that is being advertised in the same way. All in all, I think the font and color choices for this ad is just a little off, it does not catch the eye of the reader and will not hold the reader because of the business of the advertisement.

Jam WHAT??? (hmm...not so much)

Clearly, this is an ad for a cruise, and although some who may have seen this ad might have been dying to go --I can't say I would have felt the same. I understand consistency in type, but sometimes too much of something isn't a good thing. The designers of this ad used the same type throughout the entire ad (except at the exit point and the names of the acts). They should have varied the type with the dates, because the cruise's cities ran straight into the dates (and the dates just didn't stand out). In addition to the dates and cities running together, the designers wanted to make "Ft. Lauderdale", "Nassau", and "Key West" align perfectly, but they enlarged "Nassau" so much that it kind of took away from the main header (even if it was at the entry point). My eyes started at "Jam Cruise" and went straight to "Nassau"--I'm automatically turned off because I'm like 'so this is in the Bahamas..not going to happen'.
I also think the designers could have (1) put less acts on the ad and (2) used a different type for the acts, because it's just an ongoing blurb of names. Had they changed a few subtle things (i.e. choice of type, size of type, and type variation) they could have listed less acts, and drawn their audience to the website by informing them that there were more acts they just had to look at the website. Moreover, the exit point which includes their website address isn't as effective as it could be. Personally, I didn't notice it until writing this post (sad, isn't it?)
Overall, even if the ads type issues weren't here--it's just too much. It's too wordy, and the designers did too much. You're trying to draw an audience in--but you can't get them hyped about a concert when you have so much information being thrown at them. (Did I mention that I am just now seeing the spiel about the 'Pre-Cruise Party'?) I can't take this ad seriously, I definitely wouldn't have taken the "Jam Cruise" seriously either!