The ad that I found from the BUND environmental agency depicts a strong message for the public. The presentation of this poster ad acknowledges each aspect of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity rather precisely. The ad does not have an obvious contrast besides the numbers, arms of the clock and the wall are brownish in comparison to the white body and the red "seconds" arm of the clock. Although the bear is also brown in color, it stands out because it is the only "living" component of the ad that pops out from the picture. The ad is successful in that it was able to turn the attention of the obvious to the bear. When it comes to repetition of the ad, it presents a rather geometric setting, the roundness of the clock, the sharp edged "arms" of the clock and the lines that are representative of each minute of the clock. In addition to the texture of the bear that makes it stand out even more from the clock, the expression of the bear sends a message to the audience that the bear is struggling to survive. Although the colors are not as bright and appealing as most advertisements are, the message that it presents are far from lively. It sets a mood in the audience that this issue of species extinction is grievous and solemn.For alignment, the "arms" of the clock point generally toward the direction of the message, "Every 60 seconds a species dies out. Each minute counts. Each donation helps." The proximity of this ad is successful in that it only presents a piece of the clock that is most important, instead of showing the entire clock. The ad shows enough detail to portray the bear's struggle to survive as each minute goes by. However, the message shown on the top left corner is too small and should be larger because it is the clear message that BUND wants the audience to get.
The details and colors help evoke a powerful message to the viewer. The little details are what makes the advertisement very appealing to the eye. David points out the rugged texture of the bear. The bear's fur stands out to implicate their struggle for survival. Also, the simplistic geometric style of the clock fits nicely as the backdrop. It does not clash heavily with the bear, which is the prominent figure. The only thing I would have like to seen changed are the text. The information is hard to read and it does not strongly advertise the organization.
ReplyDeleteThe contrast of a living bear on an inanimate clock that keeps on ticking is an excellent visual representation of what the organization is attempting to get the audience to care about. There is a definite sense of urgency in this ad that is felt by the audience, as this moment is frozen in time and if the clock were to continue ticking, the bear would be crushed. Although the author of this post and the first comment do have a good point about the small size of the text and the lack of advertisement it portrays, I believe it is kept small for two reasons: firstly, to keep the focal point on the struggle between dying breeds of animals and humanity/time and secondly, to cause viewers to have to look for the organization behind this compelling ad. Instead of letting the name of the company be the center of the ad, this ad lets the picture do the talking and thus makes viewers more curious about who is behind such an image.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Olivia: the contrast between ideas is strong. Time as a mechanical force, without pity, impossible to stop if you are the one caught in it. The viewer stands outside, sees the moment frozen, and has the power to do something about it; the bear is powerless, but fighting.
ReplyDeleteThis one is so good that I want it to be perfect, though, and the clock face's fade-out to the right bothers me. It's visually weak, and we can see numbers beyond the twelve, which we shouldn't be able to: when the sixty seconds are over, the world ends. The crazy, tilted angle matches the bear's expression. I just want to chop off some of the right margin.