In this Mercedes-Benz advertisement, all four elements discussed in the reading are clearly present. The most clearly illustrated element in this advertisement is contrast, as it is quite visible all over. The first way that contrast is illustrated is through the drastic difference in colors between the car and the mountainous background behind it. While the car is a warm, bright red, the colors that fill the background are much colder and darker, mostly black and various shades of blue. This contrast helps to illuminate and isolate the car as the sole focus of the advertisement, while still providing an interesting and aesthetically pleasing background. The way these colors are presented are also contrasted. While the background is presented in flat colors, the car is presented in a shining, gleaming manner that add much more to the contrast between the background and the car. This, however, is not the only example of contrast visible in the piece. In addition to the contrast formed between the car and the background, the white font that is present is also very different from the dark background. This bright font helps the words to pop out, effectively highlighting them. With as much contrast as there is visible, proximity is not quite as clear. One way that proximity is achieved is the focus placed on the car, with the mercedes-benz text beneath it and the logo above it, all somewhat grouped together. This organization of various pieces could also go into the alignment category, as the alignment of these three pieces help to organize and unify the the objects that are directly associated with mercedes-benz. Finally, the repetition is visible in several areas. The first being the use of the same white font in various places in the advertisement, and the second being the repetition of dark colors used in every part of the background. These color and font repetitions help to unify the advertisement, as it makes it seem like one piece, instead of several unrelated elements, and helps to make it look professional.
I think the designer was going for triangular alignment. If you look at the text of the advertisement, it creates three points of a triangle. This leaves the car at the center of the triangle, potentially an aesthetically pleasing location. In short - the text is not in proximity, but it all relates because of alignment.
ReplyDeleteHowever, could the placement of the text have been more effective? I agree with you in reference to the contrast of the piece, but I think the disparate pieces of text are actually distracting from the advertisement. My eye is drawn to the other pieces before I even finish reading one, whereas if they were in a natural descending order, I would read from start to finish without moving on. If the logo, the car model, and the pitch were put into proximity as well as aligned, I think the effect would be more unified and pleasing. What do you think?